Foie gras is considered a delicacy to some, but to most it's considered an abomination. That's because the way to make the dish is to horribly abuse ducks and geese in order to get their livers super fatty. The grotesquely enlarged liver is sold whole or made into a pate. The dish and practice have been outlawed in many places due to the inhumane nature of force feeding animals, including in California. Which is what makes the fact that this state still allows the importation of foie gras so bizarre. It seems that as long as the cruelty happens beyond California's borders, they are fine with it.
Sign now to tell California to ACTUALLY ban this disgusting practice!
The poor ducks and geese who become foie gras suffer endlessly for it. They are trapped in tiny cages in unsanitary and cramped facilities. Their coats usually end up matted in feces and other materials because they don't have space to groom themselves. They are then force fed through metal tubes jammed down their throats twice a day in order to make their livers grow to 10 times their normal size. Many of them die along the way. One study showed the mortality rate of these animals to be 20 times that of a control group that was not force fed.
Of the birds who do survive, it only means more suffering. Obviously the entire ordeal is extremely painful and it ends in their slaughter, all so a glutinous human can indulge in their bodies. Additionally, the dish can only be made from male ducks, so all the female ducklings that are of no use to this cruel industry are literally tossed into a grinder, their tiny bodies getting ripped apart in seconds.
The bottom line is that this practice must be stopped at all costs! And it seemed like California was going to do that, but now they're going to allow imports from other states. That means that they may as well not have a ban at all. Please sign the petition telling California to close this loophole and outlaw foie gras production AND purchasing within the state!