United Poultry Concerns December 23 , 2003

Professor Supports Abusive Practices

Action Alert from the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR):


UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA POULTRY PROFESSOR CLAIMS FORCE FEEDING
OF DUCKS MIMICS NATURAL BEHAVIOR

In Associated Press articles published in various newspapers last week,
Francine Bradley, a poultry expert from the University of California,
Davis, claims that the force feeding of ducks and geese in the production
of foie gras (pate') actually mimics natural feeding behavior in ducks.

Bradley is quoted as saying, "You have people making decisions about food
production based on a concept of animals which comes out of Disney." She
goes on to say that, "force-feeding mimics the gorging of migratory wild
ducks and thinks people put off by it would probably be aghast if they
could see the large fish that shorebirds swallow."

[See, for example, "Activists fed up with treatment of ducks, geese at foie gras farm,"
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Dec/12212003/business/121824.asp
See also: "Foie Gras Work Out,"
Town Hall, Debra Saunders, September 30, 2003
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/debrasaunders/ds20030930.shtml ]


Please write a polite letter to Bradley's employer,
the University of California, Davis, at:
Chancellor Larry Vanderhof
Chancellor's Office
University of California, Davis
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616

Tell Chancellor Vanderhof that force feeding of ducks and geese is done so
that the liver swells to about 12 times its normal size so that it can be
harvested for foie gras (pate'). Because these birds are forced to ingest
large amounts of food, numerous health problems result for the birds, such
as chronic liver disease, walking and breathing problems, possible calcium
deficiencies, possible hemorrhaging of the liver, dropsy of the abdomen,
and possible cardiac or renal failure. Further, birds do not gorge
themselves to the point of making themselves sick or causing their own death.

Ms. Bradley has in the past defended the tethering of roosters, a common
practice used by cockfighters. She also has defended force molting, a
practice where food is withheld from hens used in egg production.

Tell Chancellor Vanderhof that a tax-funded public institution should not
be condoning such cruelty and that force feeding has been condemned by
numerous countries because it is considered inhumane by experts all over
the world.

-30-

Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR)
www.avar.org
info@avar.org
Tel: (530) 759-8106


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


 

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

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