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Campaign against foie gras about cruelty, not anti-meat

VIOLENT torture, cage entrapment and frequent suffocation is the reality for birds reared to produce the fine dining delicacy foie gras, but enough is enough, according to one local animal welfare campaigner.

Campaign against foie gras about cruelty, not anti-meat
Campaign against foie gras about cruelty, not anti-meat / Guernsey Press

Foie gras is the liver of a duck or goose that has been specifically fattened by gavage – a process of force-feeding.

Every year in France, 34 million birds are forced into cages that impede nearly all movement.

A metal tube is put down their throats and food forcibly pumped into their stomachs, swelling their livers to up to ten-times their natural size.

As part of her anti-foie gras campaign, Sue Vidamour, founder and director of Paw (Promoting Animal Welfare) and Guernsey Animal Aid, recently wrote to island restaurants.

She implored chefs planning to use foie gras to reconsider their decision, but has not yet received a single response.

Although the UK Government has banned the production of foie gras, and no major supermarket chain currently sells the product, it is readily available in restaurants, pubs and brasseries.

In Guernsey, foie gras can be purchased at selected food outlets.