Ian Somerhalder: Vampire Diaries Actor Arrives in Washington D.C. for Congressional Testimony

Actor Ian Somerhalder is using his time off from work in "The Vampire Diaries" to do his other work in the Ian Somerhalder Foundation (ISF). On Monday afternoon, June 23, the 35-year-old heartthrob actor and philanthropist arrived in Washington, D.C. for his congressional testimony.

Photographers spotted Ian Somerhalder arriving at the airport with his belongings, wearing a black ISF shirt, jeans, a hat and shades. Click HERE to see photos. The TVD star headed to Washington to speak before the congress and represent the Ian Somerhalder Foundation.

"My Congressional Testimony will be tomorrow between 2-4:30 EST. Ill find a way to tune in hopefully. Its important. To us all-I promise ;)" the actor posted on his Twitter account @iansomerhalder on Monday. Somerhalder also expressed his excitement on Instagram about the ISF trip to Washington with a brief video clip.

"THIS IS HAPPENING! As in very soon. Washington DC, here we come. Lets go save some amazing creatures and make our world a better fricking place to live... Sound like a good idea? Thoughts...?" Ian Somerhalder wrote as a caption to the shared video. Click HERE to see Ian's post on Instagram two days ago.

Aside from representing the Ian Somerhalder Foundation, the actor is also busy campaigning for the safety of the animals. Ian Somerhalder previously expressed anger over the elephant poaching in Africa and now the actor is on an appeal to stop dog cruelty in China.

Somerhalder found out about a dog meat festival held in Yulin, China and the actor was quick to post on Twitter to ask his over 5 million followers to spread the word and plead for the horrifying event to be stopped.

"Wait WHAT?A DOG MEAT FESTIVAL?Im w/ you China!LetsSTOP THIS!TRY not to judge anyone for what they eat-BUT WTF?!PLS RT," Ian initially tweeted. Afterwards, the actor also made an appeal on Twitter that there should be no dog meat festival then asked the fans to retweet his post and lastly told China that the country can do better than that.

According to the Movie Pilot report, Chinese actress Sun Li raised awareness on the issue just like Ian Somerhalder did. "The dog is man's most intimate and loyal friend, and I love dogs, I even regard them as part of my family. My children have learned love from the adoption of stray dogs. I hope people in Yulin, Guangxi will not indulge in eating dog any more," the actress stated in a post with an image of her son with their adorable dog.

The report further noted down that the ancient dog meat festival has been going on to observe the Summer Solstice every year for generations. The dog meat festival in China is now over but hopefully it will not happen again with the campaign of celebrity activists like Ian Somerhalder.

My Congressional Testimony will be tomorrow between 2-4:30 EST.Ill find a way to tune in hopefully.Its important.To us all-I promise;)

— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) June 23, 2014

Wait WHAT?A DOG MEAT FESTIVAL?Im w/ you China!LetsSTOP THIS!TRY not to judge anyone for what they eat-BUT WTF?!PLS RT http://t.co/nVMPbj88wR — ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) June 17, 2014

NO DOG MEAT FESTIVAL!PLS STOP!RETWEET LIKE MANY ANIMALS' LIVES DEPEND ON IT-THEY DO!YOU'RE BETTER THAN THIS CHINA! http://t.co/UBRJbKpsAA

— ian somerhalder (@iansomerhalder) June 23, 2014

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