Title: Urging all nations to outlaw the dog and cat meat trade and to enforce existing laws against such trade.
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]
[H. Con. Res. 66 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 66

Urging all nations to outlaw the dog and cat meat trade and to enforce 
                   existing laws against such trade.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 2019

  Mr. Hastings (for himself and Mr. Buchanan) submitted the following 
 concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period 
    to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Urging all nations to outlaw the dog and cat meat trade and to enforce 
                   existing laws against such trade.

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 (Public Law 115-334), which was enacted on December 20, 
        2018;
Whereas the consumption of dog meat has occurred throughout the world, primarily 
        in Asia;
Whereas established dog meat markets still exist today;
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 of abuse, poor living conditions, and cruel 
        slaughtering techniques for dogs and cats farmed for their meat;
Whereas many dogs and cats die during transport to slaughterhouses after days or 
        weeks crammed into small cages on the back of vehicles without food or 
        water, and others suffer illness and injury during transport;
Whereas the extreme suffering of dogs and cats at such slaughterhouses and on 
        transportation trucks would breach anti-cruelty laws in the United 
        States, such as the Animal Welfare Act (7 U.S.C. 2131 et seq.) and the 
        Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.);
Whereas many government officials, civil society advocates, and activists are 
        working to end the dog and cat meat trade 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 human 
        outbreaks of trichinellosis, cholera, and rabies;
Whereas those 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 may be exacerbated by unsanitary conditions of 
        slaughter and by 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 both acknowledged the link between the spread of rabies and the dog 
        meat trade which sees large numbers of dogs of unknown disease status 
        moved vast distances: Now, therefore be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) calls for an end to the consumption and trade of dog 
        and cat meat on cruelty and public health grounds;
            (2) urges all nations with a dog and cat meat trade to 
        adopt and enforce laws banning the consumption and trade; and
            (3) affirms the commitment of the United States to 
        advancing the cause of animal protection and animal welfare, 
        both domestically and around the world.
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