Written by Michelle Kretzer
It's a happy new year for ducks and geese after Great Britain's House of Lords pulled foie gras from its restaurant menus. PETA U.K. had appealed to the lords, pointing out that it was entirely inappropriate to be serving a dish that is so cruel that it is illegal to produce in the U.K. Baroness Young of Hornsey responded by saying, "Just as we do not tolerate cruelty to dogs or cats, so we should reject inflicting pain and suffering on birds."
In the foie gras farm exposé that he narrated for PETA, Sir Roger Moore explains that workers ram hard metal pipes down ducks' and geese's throats several times a day and force-feed them grain, causing their livers to swell to up to 10 times their normal size. The pipes sometimes puncture the birds' throats, and many animals suffer from ruptured internal organs, fungal and bacterial infections, and liver failure. Those who survive the traumatic force-feeding process are slaughtered, and their diseased livers are sold as a "delicacy." This is obviously a highly traumatic, recurring experience for the birds, who stop grooming and withdraw, shaking, into the far reaches of their pens if they can.
The House of Lords joins countless other high-profile British venues in banning foie gras from the menu, including the House of Commons, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Wimbledon, Lord's Cricket Ground, high-end retailer Harvey Nichols, and all the residences of His Royal Highness Prince Charles.
Written by Alisa Mullins
The following was excerpted from an article that originally appeared on McClatchy.
As my mom and I were walking through a department store recently, she spied a colorful plaid quilted vest. "Ooh, that's pretty," she said and reached for the price tag.
Meanwhile, I was looking at the contents label. "Uh-oh, it contains down," I told her.
"Oh, no," she said, dropping the vest as if it had bitten her. "I guess I won't be buying that."
Like me, Mom loves animals. She's a vegan, and she refuses to wear anything made of leather, silk, or wool—or down.
Much of the down used in coats, comforters, vests, and blankets is "live-plucked"—ripped from the bodies of birds who are still alive. Plucking may begin when the birds are just 10 weeks old and be repeated every six to seven weeks until the birds are slaughtered at around age 4, far short of their natural lifespan of 10 to 20 years.
Workers are paid by the goose, rather than by the hour, so speed is of the essence, leading to rough handling and injuries. Undercover video footage shot on a Hungarian goose farm shows workers picking up and carrying geese by their necks or wings. The frightened birds are flipped upside down and pinned between workers' knees while they rip out fistfuls of feathers. One worker was photographed sitting on a goose's neck in order to prevent her from escaping.
The good news is that there are several alternatives to down, including Thinsulate, PrimaLoft, and Polarguard, that are less expensive, less bulky, easier to launder, and excellent insulators. They also perform well when wet, unlike down, which absorbs moisture, loses loft and insulating ability, and takes a long time to dry.
In fact, many brands sell quilted vests insulated with PrimaLoft. Don't tell my mom, but she just might be finding one under her Christmas tree this year.
A little-known restaurant in Hermosa Beach, California, must have thought it was being sly. The restaurant was selling a hamburger topped with foie gras when California's ban on the sale of the cruelly produced, diseased duck liver went into effect on July 1. After the ban was in place, the restaurant continued to serve the foie gras burger but tried to be crafty by changing the menu to read that people who purchased the burger would receive a free side of foie gras. But PETA wasn't buying it.
We contacted the Hermosa Beach Police Department, but with a lot on their plates, they haven't gotten around to the case. So we've taken the matter to court, filing suit against the restaurant, called Hot's Kitchen, for engaging in unlawful business practices.
Of course, selling foie gras isn't just unlawful—it's despicable. Every PETA undercover investigation of a foie gras farm has revealed that ducks often choke to death when workers ram hard metal tubes down their throats to force-feed them and that ducks' organs often rupture from the excessive amounts of grain that are pumped into their stomachs. One duck had a gaping hole in his neck that was so severe that water spilled from it when he drank. And two ducks whose organs had swelled so large that they could not move were being eaten alive by rats.
Foie gras production is so cruel that 15 countries have banned it, including the U.K., Germany, and Australia, and more U.S. states will likely follow California's lead. And PETA intends to make sure that greedy restaurant owners won't get away with underhandedly hawking this "delicacy of despair."
It was a cruel irony. Birds raised for foie gras become so ill that they can barely walk, much less fly. Yet fly they did on certain American Airlines international flights during which foie gras was served in first class. After PETA was alerted to this by upset passengers, we contacted airline officials and informed them about the cruelty of foie gras production, which involves jamming pipes down ducks' and geese's throats and pumping several pounds of grain and fat into their stomachs every day until their livers expand to up to 10 times their normal size. An average of 20 percent of ducks on foie gras farms die before slaughter, 10 to 20 times the average death rate on a regular duck farm.
We're thrilled to announce that now foie gras is no longer being served on any American Airlines flights!
Speak up whenever you see foie gras being sold in a store or served in a restaurant. Let restaurant managers know that as long as the livers of force-fed birds are on the menu, nothing can force you to eat there.
It's barely been a week since California's foie gras ban took effect, and already a few greedy restauranteurs have their magnifying glasses out, searching for loopholes that might allow them to serve the delicacy of despair. But compassionate people aren't letting the cruel gluttons get away with it.
© stopgavage.com
One San Francisco restaurant, Presidio Social Club, located in the Presidio National Park, sent out an announcement that flies in the face of the ban:
As a result of being on federal land, the Presidio Social Club (PSC) is exempt from the state-wide ban on heavenly Foie Gras. Therefore, PSC will be celebrating two important independences this July: Bastille Day for the French, and the freedom to enjoy Foie Gras for Californians.
The restaurant's rationale is questionable at best, and the executive director of the park's trust properly tweeted his intent to challenge it:
We are concerned that this action is inconsistent with the values that we promote in the Presidio—sustainability, respect for our environment, responsible stewardship. We will engage with the Presidio Social Club on these concerns.
And while other restaurants invent their own ludicrous loopholes or simply continue to unapologetically dish up the diseased livers of force-fed ducks and geese, animal advocates aren't going to let that slide. As PETA Associate Director of Campaigns Lindsay Rajt told one news outlet, "It's upsetting to see businesses trying to exploit loopholes, and you can bet that protesters will be picketing and showing footage outside their doors."
One thing is clear: the legislature and the public has spoken and that it's time for goose abuse to be off the menu.
Snooki sees the light, more trouble for SeaWorld, and the Oscars are starting to look a lot like a PETA gala. Here's what's going on in PETA's universe this week:
Give us five minutes, and we'll give you all the latest animal rights news on PETA's Tumblr page.
Written by PETA
Ducks and geese in North America are a bit safer, now that "celebrity" hunter Jeff Foiles has been banned from hunting for three years in Canada and two in the U.S. following convictions for cruelty to animals.
Foiles, who sells videos of his hunts online, was reportedly seen in one of his taped hunts holding up a wounded duck, wrenching the duck's neck, and opening the bird's mouth while making quacking sounds. According to a news report, "In another hunt videotaped the next day, Foiles manipulates a wounded duck for four minutes, whacking it on the head with a duck call, covering its head with an empty shell box and playing peek-a-boo. He later places his fingers over the bird's nostrils and holds its beak closed while asking 'Is this how you want to die?'"
schrodingersduck | cc by 2.0
Reportedly, a wildlife expert testified during Foiles' hearing that the birds he abused were "conscious, alive and suffering extreme pain and stress."
Considering that people who find it fun to torture and kill animals often take their issues out on human victims as well, we should all be thankful that Foiles is spending 13 months behind bars.
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
A family in Brooklyn called PETA for help after they found an extremely ill swan who was too weak to stand and was stranded on a beach. We guided the family in how to safely contain the swan, and they transported the sick bird to a nearby animal shelter, where professional staff recommended euthanasia because of the swan's poor condition. The family had hoped that the bird could be saved, but they agreed that euthanasia was the most compassionate option, and the bird was quickly released from her suffering.
There's no telling how much longer this swan would have lingered in misery if this kind family hadn't stopped to help her. Animals count on us always to be on the lookout for them and to step in and help them when they need it. Keeping a wildlife emergency kit in your vehicle (with a carrier, a towel, a net, and gloves as well as phone numbers and directions to animal control bureaus and shelters, 24-hour emergency veterinarians, and wildlife rehabilitators) will help ensure that you're ready to assist an animal in distress. Whatever you do, never pass by an animal in need—you may be the animal's only hope.
Jamie Oliver's mom, Sally, is a gourmet in her own right, with a restaurant, The Cricketers, in the U.K. After PETA U.K. learned that she was serving foie gras, they contacted "The Naked Chef's" mom and told her the naked truth about the suffering of ducks and geese who are slated to be killed to produce this gastronomical atrocity, and she quickly pledged never to serve it again.
People with rescued companion ducks say that the animals have a zest for life that rivals that of any puppy or toddler. Quackers and Crackers (pictured above), two such ducks whom PETA rescued from a life of deprivation and neglect, love to play in the sprinkler with their guardian's children, blow bubbles in the mud, and engage in mock hay-throwing battles. On foie gras farms, ducks like Quackers and Crackers are force-fed four times a day until their livers swell to as much as 10 to 12 times their normal size. They never, ever get to swim or splash in the water, something that ducks naturally desire to do every day.
Foie gras is so inhumane that its production has been banned in the U.K. and several other countries and in the state of California. Until the rest of the U.S. follows suit, it's up to us to speak out and ask restaurants and stores not to sell this delicacy of despair.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
San Francisco Giants outfielder Cody Ross just knocked one out of the ballpark. When the postseason hero learned that foie gras is made by shoving tubes down the throats of ducks and geese, often causing serious injuries, and force-feeding the birds until their livers become painfully engorged, Ross immediately decided to change ducks' luck and dump foie gras.
"Once I found out what it was, it kind of made it taste a little different," he said.
PETA is sending Ross a thank-you card for being a fine friend to the feathered. To learn more about why he stopped eating foie gras, watch the Kate Winslet-narrated video here.
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.
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