Title: A concurrent resolution calling for an end to the consumption and trade of dog and cat meat.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This concurrent resolution calls for an end to the consumption and trade of dog and cat meat and urges nations to adopt and enforce laws banning that trade.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 26 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 26

  Calling for an end to the consumption and trade of dog and cat meat.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 26, 2019

 Mr. Merkley submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Calling for an end to the consumption and trade of dog and cat meat.

Whereas a bipartisan domestic prohibition on the consumption or trade of dog and 
        cat meat was included in section 12515 of the Agriculture Improvement 
        Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. 2160), which was signed into law by the President 
        on December 20, 2018;
Whereas the consumption of dog meat has occurred throughout the world, primarily 
        in Asia;
Whereas established markets for dog meat still exist as of September 2019;
Whereas Humane Society International, Animals Asia Foundation, and others 
        estimate that 30,000,000 dogs and 10,000,000 cats die annually worldwide 
        as a result of the dog and cat meat trade;
Whereas, due to a traditional belief that high adrenaline levels produce tender 
        meat and increase supposed health benefits, dogs killed for their meat 
        may be intentionally subjected to extreme fear and suffering through 
        hanging and bludgeoning;
Whereas there have been reports that dogs and cats farmed for their meat 
        experience abuse, poor living conditions, and cruel slaughtering 
        techniques;
Whereas, during transport to slaughterhouses, many dogs and cats die or suffer 
        illness or injury as a result of being crammed into small cages on the 
        back of vehicles for days or weeks without food or water;
Whereas the extreme suffering of dogs and cats at slaughterhouses and on 
        transportation trucks would breach anti-cruelty laws in the United 
        States, such as--

    (1) the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.); and

    (2) Public Law 85-765 (commonly known as the ``Humane Methods of 
Slaughter Act of 1958'') (7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.);

Whereas many government officials, civil society advocates, and activists are 
        working to end the trade of dog and cat meat on anti-cruelty and public 
        health grounds, and the governments of Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong 
        have passed laws banning the slaughter of dogs for meat consumption;
Whereas the World Health Organization has linked the dog meat industry to 
        outbreaks of trichinellosis, cholera, and rabies among humans;
Whereas the people involved in the dog meat industry are at an increased health 
        risk for zoonotic diseases, such as rabies, which can transfer from dogs 
        to humans through infectious material such as saliva;
Whereas the spread of disease in the dog meat industry may be exacerbated by the 
        unsanitary conditions of slaughter and the sale of dog meat at open-air 
        markets and restaurants; and
Whereas the World Health Organization and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control 
        have acknowledged the link between the spread of rabies and the dog meat 
        trade, which involves the movement of large numbers of dogs of unknown 
        disease status across vast distances: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) calls for an end to the consumption and trade of dog 
        and cat meat on anti-cruelty and public health grounds;
            (2) urges all nations with a dog or cat meat trade to adopt 
        and enforce laws banning the consumption and trade of dog and 
        cat meat; and
            (3) affirms the commitment of the United States to 
        advancing the causes of animal protection and animal welfare 
        domestically and around the world.
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