ACTION ALERT * * * ACTION ALERT * * * ACTION ALERT
United Poultry Concerns March 3, 2004

Foie Gras Production Under Attack in California, New York

"These people are cramming huge amounts of food down the throats of ducks while children are starving." - Animal Protection & Rescue League

"Forcing food down a bird's gullet beyond the limits of its appetite will cause pain and suffering. Force feeding quickly results in birds that are obese and in a pathological state, called hepatic lipidosis or fatty liver disease." - Professor Ian Duncan, Poultry Welfare Specialist, University of Guelph, Ontario.

A lawsuit by the Animal Protection & Rescue League (APRL) and In Defense of Animals (IDA) alleges that the force-feeding of ducks results in "extreme, unmitigated pain and suffering as well as crippling injuries to the ducks, and that the owners of Sonoma Foie Gras are in violation of several sections of the California penal code on animal welfare. An APRL investigation of the farm last year revealed ducks too weak and overweight to defend themselves as rats gnawed on their wounds, documented at www.APRL.org " (APRL press release, March 2, 2004).

To get rid of foie gras, California lawmaker, Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, has introduced a bill, SB 1520, that would ban foie gras from being produced and consumed in California. Burton told to the Sacramento Bee (March 1, 2004), "We just shouldn't be cramming a tube down a duck's throat and forcing in food to make foie gras."

California and New York are the only US states that produce foie gras; force feeding ducks and geese to make "fattened liver" is banned in Israel (effective March 2005), Germany, and several other European countries. For Information: www.APR L .org , www.gourmetcru e lty.com , and www.avar.org / foiegras2.html . For more information on bills to ban foie gras in California and New York: www.nofoie g ras.org .

What Can I Do?
  • Please write to your California State Senator by March 26 th and ask him or her to support SB 1520. Tell your Senator it is time to prohibit animal cruelty practices, especially for luxury food items. Senators can be mailed at the State Capitol Building, Sacramento, CA 95814. If you don't know who your state senator is, call 916-322-9900. For updates, contact www.avar.org/foiegras2.html or call 530-759-8106.
  • Write to your New York State Assembly member and State Senator, and ask them to cosponsor AB 1821 and SB 5153, respectively (c/o Legislative Office Building, Albany, NY 12248). Assembly Bill 1821 and Senate Bill 5153 would amend the state animal cruelty law to make it "unlawful to force feed a bird, by hand or machine, for the purpose of fatty enlargement of the bird's liver."

AB 1821 is sitting in the Assembly Committee on Agriculture, and SB 5153 is sitting in the Committee on Rules. To get these bills heard and moving, New York constituents must speak out! Call the Chairpersons of these committees and urge them to bring up the bills for debate:

Assemblyman William Magee
Chair, Assembly Agriculture Committee
641 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12248
Ph: 518-455-4807
Mageew@assem b ly.state.ny.us

Senator Joseph L. Bruno
Chair, Senate Rules Committee
909 Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12248
Ph: 518-455-3191
Bruno@sen a te.state.ny.us

For more information on New York State, contact campaign@farmsanctu a ry.org or visit www.nofoiegras.org or call 607-583-2225 ext. 247.

  • Write letters to the editor against foie gras and against cruelty to animals in all areas of animal food production. Urge people to try the delicious vegan pates available at progressive food stores.

 

United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. http://www.upc-online.org


United Poultry Concerns, Inc.
PO Box 150
Machipongo, VA 23405-0150
757-678-7875
FAX: 757-678-5070
www.upc-online.org

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