Mercy
For Animals is calling on New York lawmakers this week to stand up for
defenseless ducks. Right now, the Empire State is home to two of the country’s
three foie gras factory farms, where birds are violently force-fed for weeks on
end to induce swollen and diseased livers that some consumers consider a “delicacy.
Thankfully, a bill proposed by state senator Tony Avella could change all this by
prohibiting force-feeding for good — but only if other lawmakers take action as
well.
In
a letter sent this
week, MFA urged senate leadership to pass the bill and shared the gruesome findings
of our 2013 undercover investigation at the country’s largest foie gras
producer, based in Ferndale, New York. “Three times a day, workers violently grabbed ducks by their
wings or necks, rammed a metal pipe down their throats, and pumped enormous
amounts of food into their stomachs, the letter explains. “Because New York is
one of the only U.S. states where this brutal practice continues, new
legislation is needed to establish that force-feeding birds constitutes illegal
animal cruelty.
Experts note that routine force-feeding causes
a bird’s liver to swell up to 10 times its natural size, making it difficult for
the bird to breathe and inducing a serious disease known as “hepatic
steatosis. As workers told our undercover investigator, the practice is so traumatic
that many birds even die as a result. Because of this inherent cruelty,
force-feeding has been banned in California
and more than a dozen countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy,
and Israel.
As home to millions of
animal lovers, New York is no place for this practice. If you live in the state,
please let your state senator know that you support S1559, the bill to end the cruel force-feeding of birds.
And wherever you live,
remember that the best way to help animals is simply to stop eating them.
Please visit ChooseVeg.com to learn
how.