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How Foie Gras Is
Produced
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On the left: liver of the healthy duck.
On
the right: liver of the force-fed
duck.
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Foie gras, considered by some to
be a delicacy, is produced by forcing a long metal pipe down the throats
of ducks and geese and force-feeding them massive amounts of grain,
resulting in their livers swelling to up to 10 times their normal size.
According to ABC7 news in San
Francisco, "At least three
times a day, a worker grabs each duck, shoves a long, thick metal tube
down [his] throat and an air pump shoots up to a pound of corn into the
duck."
A duck's liver naturally weighs around 50
grams. However, to qualify as foie gras, international
regulations require ducks' livers to weigh an
absolute minimum of 300 grams. To enlarge the ducks'
livers to this extent, enormous quantities of grain are forced down these
birds' throats. On average, they are force-fed 20-30% of their body weight
each day. In human terms, this would mean that a 150-pound person would be
forced to consume 30-45 pounds of food per day! If this were being done to
dogs or cats, let alone to humans, it would be considered
torture.
The vast amounts of feed pumped
down the ducks' throats causes enormous internal pressure, and the pipe
sometimes punctures the esophagus, causing many to die from choking on the
blood that fills their lungs. Some birds literally burst, choke to death
on their own vomit, or become so weak that they are unable to fend off
rats from eating them alive. Other ducks die a slow, painful, and
premature death by suffocation from inhalation of regurgitated feed. In
fact, because of the massive toll taken on the birds during the
force-feeding process, the average pre-slaughter mortality rate is up to
twenty times higher than on other duck factory farms.
According to the ASPCA, "The birds' livers become so enlarged…that
according to documentation by veterinarians, the animals must experience
unspeakable pain and suffering. Birds have literally exploded from these
forced feedings. The results of necropsies on dead birds that have been
force-fed reveal ruptured livers, throat damage, esophageal trauma, and
food spilling from the dead animals' throats and out of their nostrils."
The
ASPCA has police power to enforce the animal cruelty law in New York State
and has filed charges against Commonwealth Enterprises, now Hudson Valley
Foie Gras, in the past for force feeding ducks. Because it is a
multi-million dollar enterprise with a lot of political clout in rural
Sullivan County, the elected District Attorney dropped the charges.
The ASPCA wrote a letter to New York Attorney General Elliot
Spitzer in late 2001 calling for him to take action, but thus far he has
not.
In addition to enduring
force-feeding, the birds also suffer the same neglectful and abusive
treatment of other factory-farmed animals: overcrowding, mutilations
(their beaks are cut off), all their natural instincts and desires-such as
interacting in social groups, mating freely, keeping themselves clean,
nurturing their young, exploring their surroundings-thwarted, and
eventually being sent to slaughter. Throughout the weeks of force-feeding,
the birds are kept in either a group pen or an individual cage with only
wire or plastic-mesh floors to stand and sleep on. Unable to feel the sun
on their backs or ground beneath their feet, the cages are so small that
the ducks cannot fully stand or stretch their wings.
To make
matters worse, the ducks and geese are housed without access to swimming
water even though ducks need to be able to immerse themselves in water to
remain healthy. Access to water on these farms is so limited that the
ducks cannot adequately clean their nostrils and eyes, which can lead to
blindness.
Compassionate people
all over the world have taken a stand against the cruelty of foie gras
production. Please join us in doing whatever you can to
help!
Debunking The
Myths
In order to justify the
barbaric practice of force-feeding, the foie gras industry has generated a
number of lies to feed to the media and public. Here are some of the most
notorious and explanations of why they are false.
LIE #1:
Force feeding mimics natural gorging of birds before migration.
FACT: Ducks used in foie gras production are of a
species that does not migrate. No duck in the wild would ever consume as
much food as these ducks are forced to consume in a day, let alone for two
to three weeks. The goal of foie gras production is to increase the fat
content of the liver so dramatically that veterinarians consider it a
disease, "hepatic lipidosis." The livers of force fed ducks become so
large that they cannot stand or walk properly.
LIE #2:
Force feeding does not injure the birds because they have hardened
esophagi.
FACT: This is a lie. Ducks do
not have hardened esophagi, as explained in a letter to the editor
appearing in the Albany Times Union on May 28, 2004 by Holly Cheever, DVM,
a veterinarian who graduated from Harvard University in the top one
percent of her class, graduated first in her class at Cornell Univerisity
College of Veterinary Medicine, and has won numerous awards for her work
in the past 20 years educating New York State Police about prosecuting
animal cruelty cases. Here are the relevant excerpts:
The ducks' esophagi are
not naturally "calcified," as Izzy Yanay [co-owner of Hudson Valley Foie
Gras] mistakenly claims, but are just as delicate and subject to
traumatic injury as ours. Nor do they naturally gorge themselves for
migration to this degree in the wild -- the other oft-cited defense.
Since migration is an athletic event like no other, wild birds
could hardly migrate with the diseased livers seen in their force-fed
relatives (Moulards are the hybrid product of a nonmigrating species,
anyway).
I praise Assemblyman Jack McEneny for tying to outlaw
this barbaric practice in our state. I suggest that consumers think
twice before biting into liver spread on toast.
HOLLY CHEEVER,
DVM
LIE
#3: Ducks enjoy being force fed because they run to the feeders.
FACT: This is the most offensive of the many lies
appearing in Michael Ginor's book, "Foie Gras, a Passion." There is simply
not a grain of truth in this statement, and it is all the more offensive
since Ginor keeps most of the ducks at Hudson Valley Foie Gras in
isolation cages so they can't move anyway. The Scientific Committee on
Animal Health and Animal Welfare of the European Union observed that in
contrast to ordinary hand-fed ducks, who do run to be fed, force-fed ducks
try to get away from the feeder as much as possible, and this behavior has
been documented in controlled scientific studies as well
(click here to read the full
report).
Inside Foie Gras
Farms
 The violent force-feeding process used on foie gras farms
results in a death rate 20 percent higher than that on ordinary factory
farms. The increased deaths for birds on foie gras farms are directly
attributed to organ rupture and heart failure. In addition, ducks raised
for foie gras must endure cramped, filthy conditions for the duration of
their short lives.
There are only two foie gras producers in the
U.S. Undercover investigations have been conducted on both foie gras farms
and revealed shocking, industry-wide abuse. At both Hudson Valley Foie
Gras in New York and Sonoma Foie Gras in California ducks were living in
feces-ridden sheds. Some ducks were isolated inside wire cages so small
that the birds could barely move. Both facilities practice force-feeding,
a practice which requires large metal pipes to be shoved down the throats
of the birds two to three times a day and pumps grain, equaling one-tenth
of a healthy duck's body weight per feeding, through the pipes into the
bird's stomach.
On one farm, barrels full of dead ducks who had
choked or whose organs ruptured or exploded during the traumatic
force-feeding process were discovered. Some birds died from severe throat
wounds and rips from the careless and aggressive insertion of the metal
feeding tube into their throats. Others were suffering from anal
hemorrhaging from the force-feeding. Many were so physically debilitated
and in extreme pain by the end of the force-feeding period that they were
unable to stand or walk. Investigators rescued 15 ducks, including two who
were being eaten alive by rats because crippling injuries prevented them
from moving.
Click here for photos and videos of the
investigation.
Distribute Our Foie Gras Brochures
IDA has produced a new brochure exposing the cruelty of foie gras
production. The brochure is perfect for friends or family who eat foie
gras or for restaurant-goers who may be unaware of the animal cruelty they
are supporting by purchasing foie gras. IDA is pleased to send you free
copies of this brochure for you to distribute. You can
view a PDF of the flyer here (1.8
Mb). To order, email banfoiegras@idausa.org the
number of brochures you would like along with your name and complete
mailing address.
Show "Delicacy of Despair"
Video
IDA is pleased to help distribute "Delicacy of Despair,"
a dramatic video produced by GourmetCruelty.com, a Washington, D.C.-based
advocacy group that captured striking undercover footage at Hudson Valley
Foie Gras in New York. If you are doing a demonstration and have a battery
or generator to operate a TV and VCR, we can send you a looped video of
"Delicacy of Despair." Click here to view segments from the video:
http://www.gourmetcruelty.com/videos.php. This will make the case against foie gras far more
effectively than any brochure. We can also send you a regular copy of the
11-minute video to educate family and friends. To order, email banfoiegras@idausa.org and
let us know your name and address and whether you'd like a looped or
regular copy.
Urge Restaurant Owners to Take Foie Gras Off
the Menu
When Traci des Jardins of Jardinière restaurant in San
Francisco learned of the cruelty of foie gras production, she pulled it
from her menu. Some restaurant owners or managers may simply be unaware of
the cruelty involved. Dine only at restaurants that do not serve foie
gras, and ask those that do to take it off their menu or face the loss of
your business.
IDA has compiled information about foie gras
production into a packet geared toward restaurant and store owners and
managers who currently sell foie gras. The packet includes our brochure,
the "Delicacy of Despair" video geared specifically toward restaurants, a
letter, and a pledge not to sell foie gras. By persuading restaurant and
storeowners to stop carrying foie gras, we can reduce the demand for, and
accessibility of, foie gras. To order a restaurant pack, e-mail banfoiegras@idausa.org
and let us know your name and complete mailing address and how many
restaurants you'd like to approach.
Write a Letter to the
Editor About Foie Gras
Write letters to the food editors of
newspapers and magazines ensure readers learn about the cruelty inherent
in foie gras production, and to ask that the publications not promote or
glamorize foie gras.
Keep your eyes open for articles in newspapers
or magazines about foie gras (and animal issues in general). If you see an
article in the food section about foie gras or an article about efforts to
ban it, seize the opportunity to write a letter to the editor of the
newspaper or magazine (and let us know so that we can write too). Letters
should be concise (less than 200 words), polite, and include your full
contact information (including your address and phone number; the
publication will not print this information but needs it to verify
authorship).
Letter: Cruel road to delicacy
Friday, May 13, 2005
Foie gras is a
delicacy from the greatly enlarged livers of tortured, sick birds. It is
created from the forced feeding of ducks and geese resulting in their
livers swelling to 10 times its normal size. A long metal pipe is shoved
down the struggling birds neck two to three times every day.
Veterinarians have documented that the animals must
experience unspeakable pain and suffering. Birds have literally exploded
from these forced feedings. The examinations of dead birds reveal ruptured
livers, throat damage, esophageal trauma and food spilling out of the dead
animal's throat and nostrils. A half million ducks are tortured and killed
in the United States each year for this "delicacy."
California has passed a bill to outlaw forced fed
birds by 2012. Fifteen nations, including the United Kingdom, Italy,
Germany, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and
Israel
(previously the fourth largest producer in the world) have already
outlawed forced-feeding birds for foie gras due to its cruelty. To learn
more about foie gras please log onto www.StopForceFeeding.com.
EVELYN RISPOLI,
Marlborough
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