Patch Reader Writes: Foie Gras Is Straight-Up Animal Abuse

Dear Editor,

In our college days we lived on Soquel Creek in Capitola. People would bring us abandoned or lost ducklings to raise.

Our two-person kayak could hold a couple of inches of water and the little ducks would swim in it during the day. Our dog Roo was motherly and protective of them.

Ducks are sweet and curious little animals and many families enjoy a trip to the park to feed them or see them fly.

To see the fois gras ban lifted is a sad example of the judicial system backing animal abuse and the abusers rather than protecting those without a voice. If we did this to a dog or cat it would be considered animal abuse.

• Previous coverage:
• CA Attorney General Seeks To Reinstate Ban on Foie Gras
• CA Ban on Foie Gras Lifted; Back on Menu in Bay Area Restaurants

When I was younger I had a dinner of veal. I didn’t know what it was but it tasted really good. So I asked what veal was. I’ve never eaten it again. Yep, it tasted good, but it didn’t feel good. I’m not a vegetarian, but I respect those that are.

The older I get the less I want to inflict undue pain and suffering on others, and that includes animals.

Foie Gras has been called the “delicacy of despair.” This is animal abuse done by the farmer and supported by the diner. And it is often served as an appetizer. A short life of suffering so that someone can have a five-minute “gourmet experience” that isn’t even a main dish? As if that person is entitled to do, and eat, whatever they want regardless of the pain and agony, that someone else had to go through for their pleasure?

These poor animals don’t stand a chance. They are caged, and their whole lives are spent with a tube forced down their throats so that some diner can have a momentary palette rush.

How about a gut check on the practice of eating foie gras in favor of being a responsible consumer, with a consciousness and a heart? We’ve got cage-free chickens/eggs, grass fed beef, non-hormone milk, dolphin safe tuna. The ban was the right thing to do. There are more humane choices out there.

Let’s speak up for those little ducks that can’t put into words what we’re doing to them.

Signed:

C. Moran

Ben Lomond, CA

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Editor’s note: The following comment was left on Facebook from a Patch reader with an animal-sciences view.

A.Hanna: In all of my studies of animal science, this is one of the most disturbing. You all know what it feels like to over-eat. It is uncomfortable, to say the least. But if we gorge ourselves too much, our bodies would engage our gag reflex and vomit.

Geese do not have a gag reflex. They are unable to vomit. That is why they are able to continually feed and feed more. That is how the fatty liver (foie gras) is made. Cruelty! Period!

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For more information from other sources:

Force-Fed Animals : The Humane Society of the United States.

Foie gras - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In Defense of Foie Gras | Wine Gourmet.

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