SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 29--URGING ALL NATIONS TO OUTLAW THE DOG AND CAT MEAT TRADE AND TO ENFORCE EXISTING LAWS AGAINST SUCH TRADE; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 176
(Senate - November 05, 2019)
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From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 29--URGING ALL NATIONS TO OUTLAW THE DOG
AND CAT MEAT TRADE AND TO ENFORCE EXISTING LAWS AGAINST SUCH TRADE
Mr. MERKLEY submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Con. Res. 29
Whereas a bipartisan domestic prohibition on the knowing
slaughter, transportation, possession, purchase, or sale of a
dog or cat for human consumption 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 dog and cat meat trade occurs 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, and those organizations have found that a
considerable number of the dogs and cats in this trade are
stolen pets still wearing collars when they reach the
slaughterhouses, in addition to stray dogs and cats who are
captured for slaughter;
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 and other countries;
Whereas many government officials, civil society advocates,
and activists are working to end the dog and cat meat trade
on anticruelty and public health grounds, and the Governments
of Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, and Hong
Kong have passed laws banning the dog meat trade;
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 and
cat 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 Senate (the House of Representatives
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 or cat meat trade to adopt
and enforce laws banning that 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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