Photo taken at RTF’s San Luis Obispo satellite sanctuary by Deb Hofstetter.

Good news: A San Mateo County Superior Court Judge recently put a stop to the sale by two California companies of ejiao, a gelatin made from donkey skin used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Ejiao is behind the mass slaughter and decline of donkeys worldwide.

On Jan. 13, Judge Don R. Franchi ruled that Hygia Healthcare and TS Emporium cannot sell ejiao products or any other products derived from donkeys for human consumption in the state or to out-of-state buyers.

Such sales violate California’s horse slaughter ban, the court ruled in October, in a case brought by A. F. Rothschild Fund / Center for Contemporary Equine Studies.

Passed by California voters as Prop. 6 in 1998, the ban outlaws horse slaughter and the sale of horsemeat for human consumption. It defined horses as any equine.

Ejiao (uh-jee-ow) is produced from collagen extracted from boiled donkey hides. It is used to create consumable goods and beauty products. There is little scientific evidence to back up ejiao’s  purported health benefits.

Return to Freedom is a proud supporter of the Ejiao Act, a bill in Congress that would prohibit the transportation, sale and purchase of donkeys / hides to produce ejiao and the transportation, sale and purchase of products containing ejiao.

We’re also planning a webinar on ejiao and the donkey skin trade (details to come) and will be providing more ways to take action in support of the bill.

Take action:

• Call 202-224-3121. Urge your representative to support the Ejiao Act (H.R. 5544).
• Please also urge them to support the Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act (S. 775 in the Senate, H.R. 1661 in the House) and call for a vote. The SAFE Act which would place a lasting ban on horse slaughter in the United States and on the export of American horses for slaughter.