On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court upheld
a groundbreaking California law that effectively prohibits the production
and sale of foie gras within the state.
French for “fatty liver, foie gras is produced by shoving a
metal pipe down the throats of ducks and force-feeding them multiple times a
day for several weeks. This painful process causes the birds’ livers to swell
up to 10 times the normal size. The resulting diseased fatty livers are
marketed as foie gras.
The California law took effect in 2012 and also banned the
sale of any out-of-state foie gras produced by the cruel force-feeding process.
A group of foie gras producers and sellers, including Hudson
Valley Foie Gras, the country’s largest foie gras producer, challenged the law
on constitutional grounds and lost. Then they tried to appeal to the U.S.
Supreme Court, but the nation’s highest court declined to hear their appeal.
Just last year, Mercy For Animals conducted an undercover investigation at Hudson Valley
Foie Gras in upstate New York, and documented just how brutal and inhumane
foie gras production really is. Workers were caught on video grabbing ducks by
their wings and necks and violently shoving metal pipes down their throats to force-feed
them.
Countless ducks hyperventilated as their unnaturally large
livers pressed against their lungs, making it difficult for them to breathe,
and numerous ducks died from the horrific force-feeding process. Those who
survived were shackled upside down and had their throats cut open, causing them
to slowly bleed to death.
You can watch the undercover video here:
Despite the fact that foie gras is the product of blatant
animal cruelty, Amazon.com continues to sell these diseased livers to consumers
in the U.S. and abroad. Mercy For Animals is now calling on Amazon to
immediately end the sale of foie gras on its website.
In the past, Amazon has ended the sale of other products due
to cruel and inhumane production practices. It’s time they implemented an
ethical and humane policy banning the sale of foie gras too.
Please take action! Click
here to sign our petition urging Amazon to take a stand against egregious
cruelty to animals by prohibiting the sale of foie gras.