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
|