Written by PETA
The Mentalist star Owain Yeoman investigated a "crime scene" outside Queen Elizabeth's favorite store, Fortnum & Mason, yesterday. Despite months of pressure from PETA U.K., the British retailer has so far refused to stop selling foie gras, the production of which is so cruel that it is illegal under U.K. law.
"In the UK, foie gras production is literally a criminal procedure – so why is a shop that prides itself on its British heritage still selling this cruel product?" asks Yeoman, an outspoken vegetarian and current Sexiest Vegetarian contender. "We're encouraging all compassionate people to shop elsewhere until Fortnum & Mason stops selling foie gras."
In foie gras production, young ducks and geese are confined to tiny cages or pens barely larger than their own bodies. Up to 4 pounds of grain and fat are pumped through pipes into the birds' stomachs each day. Investigations on foie gras farms have documented sick, dead, and dying birds, some with holes in their necks from pipe injuries.
Other major U.K. retailers, including Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, have stopped selling foie gras, so what's holding up Fortnum & Mason? You can help convince the retailer by sending an e-mail and asking that it stop being a royal pain to geese.
Written by Alisa Mullins
St. George's Day is celebrated across England to honor one of the country's patron saints. PETA U.K. supporters illustrated that there is nothing saintly about using ducks and geese for foie gras when they converged on department store Fortnum & Mason, bodypainted to resemble St. George's Cross. The lovely ladies—including former Playboy model Victoria Eisermann—told Fortnum & Mason, which prides itself on being patriotic, that foie gras is anything but. England banned the production of foie gras, but cruel, greedy companies like Fortnum & Mason still import it from France.
Foie gras is the diseased liver of ducks or geese, made by jamming steel pipes down the birds' throats and pumping them full of grain and fat several times a day until their livers become grossly enlarged. If they survive force-feeding, the birds are slaughtered, and their liver is sold as a "delicacy."
If a restaurant near you serves foie gras, please give its managers a "Foie Gras Cruelty" leaflet and ask them to consider a more humane menu option.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
Follow PETA on Twitter!