Bill Would Ban ‘Ejiao,’ a ‘Virility’ Remedy Made From the Skin of Bludgeoned Donkeys

Rep. Don Beyer’s Ejiao Act (HR 5203) Earns PETA Support

For Immediate Release:
November 12, 2021

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Few people realize that the U.S. is the world’s third-largest importer of ejiao—donkey-skin gelatin found in many snacks, face creams, Chinese folk remedies, and energy drinks—but a new bill introduced by Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) would prohibit sales of the product or transport in either interstate or foreign commerce. The Ejiao Act (HR 5203) has already won the support of PETA (PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters worldwide), which exposed cruelty in the ejiao industry with a PETA Asia undercover video showing workers using sledgehammers to bash in the heads of donkeys as young as 5 months old.

“Donkeys in Africa, Asia, and South America, some just babies, are being stolen or sold and then bludgeoned to death and their skin boiled for candy, snacks, and beauty products,” says PETA Senior Vice President Kathy Guillermo. “PETA urges everyone who knows how gentle and trusting donkeys are to ask their representatives to cosponsor HR 5203.”

A 2019 PETA video exposé revealed abuse inside Kenya’s donkey slaughter industry, which exists to meet the demand for ejiao in China. Workers are seen violently beating frightened and gentle animals who are crammed together so tightly that they could barely move. Donkeys are packed onto trucks and endure grueling journeys to slaughterhouses from as far away as neighboring countries, during which they aren’t given any water or food.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.