Progress for Donkeys! The Ejiao Act Gains Powerful New Support

Momentum continues to build for the Ejiao Act.

In a major show of bipartisan support, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has officially adopted a policy resolution urging state legislatures across the country to support U.S. Representative Don Beyer's bipartisan Ejiao Act (H.R. 5544), legislation that would ban the sale and transport of donkey skin gelatin, known as ejiao, in interstate and foreign commerce.

The resolution passed by an overwhelming margin, with 48 states and all six U.S. territories voting in favor. Only Utah and Wyoming opposed the measure. That level of agreement is especially significant because NCSL policy resolutions require approval from at least 75% of state delegations to pass, a threshold that many proposals never reach.

While NCSL does not make federal law, it serves as a nonpartisan organization representing state legislators from across the United States. Its policy positions help shape legislative priorities, encourage coordination between state and federal lawmakers, and signal where broad political consensus exists. By formally endorsing the Ejiao Act, NCSL has given advocates of the bill a powerful new tool as they continue working to build support in Congress and introduce similar protections at the state level.

This encouraging development comes just one month after Species Unite joined fellow advocates on Capitol Hill for more than two dozen meetings with members of Congress and their staff to advocate for the Ejiao Act. The meetings were organized through the bipartisan coalition supporting the legislation, whose partners include Brooke USA, the Animal Welfare Institute, American Wild Horse Conservation, the ASPCA, and many others.

Those conversations are already yielding results.

Since our lobbying trip, six new lawmakers, four Republicans and two Democrats, have signed on as cosponsors of the bill. Three of those new cosponsors represent congressional offices we met with directly during our visit to Capitol Hill, demonstrating that these conversations are helping move the legislation forward.

The newly adopted NCSL resolution gives us even greater reason for optimism as we continue urging additional members of Congress to join the growing bipartisan movement behind the bill.

Every year, nearly five million donkeys are slaughtered so their skins can be used to produce ejiao, a gelatin used in traditional Chinese medicine. The trade fuels widespread animal cruelty, threatens already declining donkey populations, and devastates vulnerable communities throughout the Global South that rely on donkeys for transportation, farming, and their livelihoods.

There is no reason for the United States to remain complicit in this unnecessary trade. It is a matter of protecting animal welfare, safeguarding vulnerable communities, conserving an increasingly threatened species, and ensuring the United States is no longer contributing to a global industry built on suffering.

You can help build on this growing momentum by joining Species Unite in calling on Congress to support the Ejiao Act and help bring this important legislation across the finish line.