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ANIMAL WATCH –
Dear President Trump: Please help save the lives of millions of dogs and cats in Vietnam! You can end this horror which President Biden and Mayor Bass ignored.
Today, we urgently need your leadership to save millions of innocent animals from horrific cruelty abroad — and to stand up for the will of the American people who overwhelmingly oppose this barbaric trade.
Approximately 5 million dogs are brutally killed each year for dog meat in Vietnam. That is more than 13,000 dogs a day. Dogs are beaten to death, hanged, bled out from a cut to the throat or groin, thrown conscious into large drums of boiling water, and killed in other cruel ways. Prior to their deaths, the dogs are kept and transported in unimaginably horrible conditions, crammed into cages without food or water for days, in extreme heat and cold. Many of these dogs are stolen pets. In addition, one million cats are also killed and eaten in Vietnam each year, under similarly horrible conditions. Please see: Five Million Dogs and Cats Desperately Need Saving in Vietnam.
As the President who signed the bill to outlaw dog and cat meat in the United States in your first term, and as the candidate who showed concern for this issue during the 2024 campaign, we are now turning to you to stop one of the world’s worst abuses: the mass torture and slaughter of over 5 million dogs and 1 million cats each year in Vietnam. You have the worldwide respect and influence to stop this debacle. Now is the time to do so, as you enter into a trade agreement with Vietnam. Although it is the official position of the City of Los Angeles to try to stop the dog meat trade in Vietnam, Mayor Karen Bass has refused to do so. So it is up to you, Mr. President, to be the worldwide leader in animal welfare.
We respectfully urge you to:
· Publicly and privately call on Vietnam to ban the dog and cat meat trade;
· Include animal welfare commitments in current and future U.S.–Vietnam trade negotiations;
· Expose and shame the politicians, like Mayor Bass, who stand in the way.
Some Background
On January 9, 2024, the National Assembly of South Korea voted unanimously to ban the torture, killing, and eating of dogs nationwide. See In Defense of Animals Media Release: South Korean Lawmakers Applauded for Historic Ban of Country’s Dog Meat Trade.
We are asking you, Mr. President, to help achieve the same humane result in Vietnam.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is refusing to carry out her duty to implement the official position of Los Angeles in this regard. It is the official position of the City of Los Angeles to oppose dog meat, including specifically in the country of Vietnam. On July 3, 2019, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution to that effect, which was signed by the previous acting Mayor. The resolution states, in part:
“WHEREAS, it is estimated that 10 to 20 million dogs in China, 5 million dogs in Vietnam, and one million dogs each in South Korea, Indonesia, and Cambodia are killed for food each year; and
“WHEREAS, dogs in these countries are kept in cramped, rusty cages stacked on top of each other, and slaughtered in brutal ways such as hanging or electrocution, due to an erroneous belief that high adrenaline levels will produce tender meat and increase the supposed health benefits of consuming dog …
“NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, with the concurrence of the Mayor, that by the adoption of this Resolution, the City of Los Angeles hereby includes into its 2019-2020 Federal Legislative Program SUPPORT for legislation or administrative action that would request the governments of China, Vietnam, South Korea, Cambodia, and Indonesia to ban the sale of dog meat and to enforce their animal cruelty laws." https://koreandogs.org/la-resolution/
Not only has Mayor Bass failed to ask authorities in Vietnam to stop the abuse and killing of dogs and cats, she has affirmatively stood in the way of the Los Angeles City Council and Neighborhood Councils’ attempts to do so. Please see Mayor Bass Strikes Out On Animal Welfare, CityWatch, June 2, 2025.
Because of the 2019 City Council Resolution, the City of Los Angeles has had a unique opportunity to convince the city of Hanoi to ban dog and cat meat. The idea is to offer Hanoi a sister city relationship with Los Angeles, which would be conditioned on Hanoi banning dog and cat meat. We call this the Sister City Project to End Dog and Cat Meat In Vietnam. Los Angeles does not currently have a sister city in Vietnam.
In September 2023, President Biden and the leader of Vietnam entered into the Joint Leaders’ Statement: Elevating United States-Vietnam Relations To A Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Joint Leaders Statement encourages sister city relationships between the United States and Vietnam. Becoming sister cities will offer Los Angeles and Hanoi many benefits, including increased business and trade opportunities, travel and tourism, educational and cultural exchanges, and cooperation and investments in science, technology, agriculture, and energy, among other benefits. Unfortunately, the Joint Leaders’ Statement does not say anything about the dog and cat meat trade.
So our plan was to do what President Biden suggested, enter Los Angeles into a sister city relationship with Hanoi. But because of the official position of Los Angeles to oppose dog meat in Vietnam, such a sister city relationship would be conditioned on Hanoi banning dog and cat meat, or agreeing to phase it out.
After many months of discussion and consideration, the Sister City Project was introduced in the Los Angeles City Council on February 21, 2025 as Council File 25-0193. There has been overwhelming public support for it. More than 2,900 people have submitted Public Comments in the City Council File 25-0193 in support -- an astounding number of public comments on a City Council motion. The Tarzana Neighborhood Council has passed a Resolution and Community Impact Statement in support, as have the Woodland Hills Warner Center Neighborhood Council and Canoga Park Neighborhood Council. The Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils (VANC), consisting of representatives of the Neighborhood Councils in the San Fernando Valley, unanimously passed a resolution in support. Prior to introduction of 25-0193, more than 10,000 people signed a petition entitled Los Angeles & California Must Help End the Brutal Killing of Millions of Dogs & Cats in Vietnam, asking City Councilmembers to sponsor and support a resolution or motion adopting the Sister City Project To End Dog and Cat Meat In Vietnam.
But no action has been taken by the City Council since the motion’s introduction on February 21 because Mayor Bass has placed a hold on it. Mayor Bass has placed this hold despite the fact that 13,000 dogs and 2,700 cats are dying horrible deaths each day. She has placed this hold despite the overwhelming public support for the motion. She has placed this hold despite the fact that this life-saving initiative will not cost the City of Los Angeles anything. Since she placed the hold, more than 13,800 people have sent emails to Mayor Bass asking her to stop blocking attempts to help the dogs and cats of Vietnam. Tell L.A. Mayor: Stop Blocking Sister City Plan to End Dog & Cat Meat in Vietnam. More than 34,000 people have signed a petition to the same effect. Support Los Angeles Sister City Motion Calling to End Hanoi’s Cruel Dog and Cat Meat Trade. Mayor Bass has not responded to those emails or petition; she is still blocking this life-saving initiative, which has overwhelming bipartisan public support, and refuses to say why she is doing so.
Our Request to You
We are requesting you, Mr. President, and your Administration -- please do what Karen Bass has so miserably failed to do – ask the leaders of Vietnam to end the abuse and killing of millions of dogs and cats, when you meet with them in connection with trade talks and any other meetings. Our major trading partners should reflect American values; Americans almost unanimously are horrified by the dog and cat meat trade.
This is not a huge ask of Vietnam. An overwhelming majority of Vietnamese citizens support it. A recent Nielsen opinion poll found that 68% of respondents in Vietnam support a ban on the dog meat trade and 71% support banning the cat meat trade. A poll conducted in Vietnam by the organization Four Paws found that 95% of Vietnamese think that eating dog and cat meat is not part of Vietnamese culture.
Unfortunately, we in Los Angeles are stuck for another year with a Mayor who cares nothing about the lives and conditions of dogs, cats, and other animals. See Mayor Bass Strikes Out On Animal Welfare. So we are asking you to step in and help them. With your strength, courage, and global influence, this is a battle you can win — for innocent animals, for the American people, and for your legacy. Please act swiftly -- 13,000 dogs and 2,700 cats are dying painful deaths every single day. Saving the dogs and cats of Vietnam will be added to your nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Thank you for being a champion of animal welfare!
Sincerely, Jeff Mausner
(Jeffrey Mausner (www.mausnerlaw.com/) is on the Executive Committee of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils (VANC) where he serves as the Liaison to the Los Angeles Animal Services Department; he is 2nd Vice President of the Tarzana Neighborhood Council and Chair of its Animal Welfare Committee. He also volunteers at the West Valley Animal Shelter. A retired attorney, law professor, and former U.S. Justice Department Federal Prosecutor, Jeff has received numerous awards, including the 2023 Guardian of the Animals Award and a 2024 Special Commendation from the California Legislature. He co-founded the Global Anti-Dog Meat Coalition. This open letter is written in his private individual capacity, not on behalf of the Animal Services Department or other entities identified above.)
