IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 30 
Condemning the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, and urging China to 
end the dog meat trade. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2017 
Mr. HASTINGS (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. PERRY, Mr. ZELDIN, Ms. 
DELAURO, Mr. NADLER, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. SCHIFF, 
Mr. COHEN, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 
PAYNE, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. 
SABLAN, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. MOORE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. 
DONOVAN, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. LANCE, Ms. 
TITUS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. POCAN, 
Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. BISHOP of Michigan, Mr. PERL-
MUTTER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. 
LANGEVIN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsyl-
vania, Mr. KEATING, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. SMITH 
of New Jersey, Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, and Mr. UPTON) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Condemning the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, and 
urging China to end the dog meat trade. 
Whereas the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, was 
launched by dog meat traders during the period of 2009 
to 2010 as a commercial enterprise to boost flagging 
sales of dog meat; 
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Whereas a reported 10,000 dogs are captured and slaugh-
tered each year for the Dog Meat Festival, and more 
than 10,000,000 dogs are killed in China each year for 
the dog meat trade; 
Whereas many of these dogs are stolen pets, still wearing col-
lars when they reach the slaughterhouses; 
Whereas many dogs die during transport to the slaughter-
houses after days or weeks without food or water, and 
others suffer illness and injury during transport, such as 
broken bones; 
Whereas dogs who reach the slaughterhouses are typically 
beaten to death with shocking brutality, without any re-
gard for their welfare; 
Whereas these dogs also suffer mentally from watching other 
dogs being killed, then disemboweled and blow-torched in 
front of them; 
Whereas respected animal welfare organizations have exposed 
the extreme suffering of dogs at the Dog Meat Festival 
and determined that such suffering would breach the ani-
mal welfare laws of the United States; 
Whereas dog slaughter in Yulin happens in residential areas 
and public marketplaces, imposing scenes of extreme ani-
mal cruelty on local residents, including young children 
who may, as a result, suffer psychological trauma and de-
sensitization; 
Whereas the dog meat trade—the capture, transport, and 
butchering of dogs and the consumption of dog meat— 
poses a risk to human health by exposing people to a 
multitude of diseases, including rabies and cholera; 
Whereas dog meat traders sell meat from dogs who have died 
of poisoning by dog thieves or unknown causes or who 
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have been slaughtered without the required vaccination 
and health records; 
Whereas the dog meat trade breaches China’s food safety 
laws and regulations that ban processing and selling 
meat from livestock who have died of illnesses or un-
known causes; 
Whereas, in 2011, China’s Agriculture Ministry issued a reg-
ulation to limit the illegal transport of dogs by requiring 
‘‘one certificate for one dog’’, applicable to any dog who 
is shipped across provincial boundaries; 
Whereas dog transporters are unable to produce ‘‘one certifi-
cate for one dog’’ because many of the animals are stolen 
pets or the certificates are too costly to provide; 
Whereas, although the Yulin city government withdrew as a 
sponsor of the Dog Meat Festival, it has taken no mean-
ingful action to enforce China’s existing laws and regula-
tions on animal disease control, food safety, trans-provin-
cial dog transport, or youth protection, all of which are 
breached by the dog meat trade; 
Whereas millions of Chinese citizens recently voted in support 
of a legislative proposal by Zhen Xiaohe, a deputy to the 
National People’s Congress of China, to ban the dog 
meat trade; 
Whereas the majority of people in China do not consume dog 
meat and dog meat is not a part of mainstream Chinese 
culinary practice; and 
Whereas tens of millions of people around the world have 
called upon the Government of China, the Governor of 
the Guangxi Autonomous Region, and the Mayor of Yulin 
to officially end the Dog Meat Festival and stop the mass 
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slaughter of dogs all year round in Yulin: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) condemns the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin 
because it— 
(A) is a spectacle of extreme animal cru-
elty; 
(B) is a commercial activity claimed by 
proponents to be in the name of tradition, but 
is not actually grounded in Chinese history; 
(C) is opposed by a majority of the Chi-
nese people; and 
(D) threatens global public health; 
(2) urges the Government of China and the 
Yulin authorities to enforce the 2011 Agriculture 
Ministry of China Regulation on the Quarantine of 
Dogs at the Place of Origin that requires ‘‘one cer-
tificate for one dog’’ who is on board a trans-provin-
cial transport truck; 
(3) encourages the Government of China and 
the Yulin authorities to enforce China’s food safety 
laws regulating the processing and sale of animal 
products; 
(4) urges the Government of China and the 
Yulin authorities to impose a ban on the killing and 
eating of dogs as part of Yulin’s festival; 
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(5) urges the National People’s Congress of 
China to enact an animal anticruelty law with provi-
sions banning the dog meat trade; and 
(6) affirms the commitment of the United 
States to the protection of animals and to the 
progress of animal protection around the world. 
Æ 
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