Foie Gras is produced by cruel farming practices. At just a few months old, the ducks are confined inside dark unsanitary sheds and force-fed enormous amounts of food several times a day.
A farm worker grabs each duck, and one by one, thrusts a metal pipe down their throats as a mechanized pump shoots a mixture of corn and oil directly into their gullets. In just a matter of weeks, the ducks become grossly overweight, and their livers expand up to 10 times their normal size.
It is this grotesque, diseased fatty liver is sold as "foie gras." In medical terms, the animals are suffering from hepatic lipidosis, a pathological condition in which the liver is no longer able to function normally.
Ducks and geese with such hugely-swollen livers have difficulty standing, walking, and even breathing.
The mortality rate for ducks raised on foie gras farms is up to 20 times greater than that of other types of duck farming. Some die when their necks are punctured by the feeding tube or when their stomachs literally burst as huge amounts of food are pumped into them.
Necropsies performed on foie gras birds have revealed enormously swollen livers, lacerated tracheas and esophagi, throats severely impacted with undigested corn, and a proliferation of bacterial and fungal growth on the lining of their organs.
They suffer from insufficient access to water. Although these aquatic birds require water for normal, instinctual behaviors, they are given barely enough water to dip the ends of their bills into. Additionally, they suffer from de-billing- a painful mutilation in which the tips are seared off, ostensibly to prevent the stressed birds from injuring each other in overcrowded quarters.
Outside the U.S., foie gras production has been banned in many countries, including Austria, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxemborg, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K. Israel also banned it, ruling that it violates the country's animal cruelty law. This inhumane practice should be prohibited anywhere it is served. Farm Sanctuary
