Title: Condemning the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, and urging China to end the dog meat trade.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Condemns the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, because it: (1) is a spectacle of extreme animal cruelty, (2) is a commercial activity not grounded in Chinese history, (3) is opposed by a majority of the Chinese people, and (4) threatens global public health.
Urges:
Affirms the commitment of the United States to the protection of animals and to the progress of animal protection.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 30 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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. Sanchez, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Bishop of Michigan, 
  Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Pingree, Mr. 
Langevin, Mr. Welch, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Costello of Pennsylvania, 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;
Whereas a reported 10,000 dogs are captured and slaughtered 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 collars when they 
        reach the slaughterhouses;
Whereas many dogs die during transport to the slaughterhouses 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 regard 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 animal welfare laws of the United States;
Whereas dog slaughter in Yulin happens in residential areas and public 
        marketplaces, imposing scenes of extreme animal cruelty on local 
        residents, including young children who may, as a result, suffer 
        psychological trauma and desensitization;
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 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 unknown causes;
Whereas, in 2011, China's Agriculture Ministry issued a regulation 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 certificate 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 meaningful action to enforce China's 
        existing laws and regulations on animal disease control, food safety, 
        trans-provincial 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 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 cruelty;
                    (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 Chinese 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 certificate for one dog'' who is on board a trans-
        provincial 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;
            (5) urges the National People's Congress of China to enact 
        an animal anticruelty law with provisions 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.
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