"Ducks who have come to Farm Sanctuary after being rescued from foie gras farms are among the sickest animals we have cared for in over thirty years.”
Happy Ducks–Kohl, Burton and Harper–rescued from foie gras brutalities.
Foie gras is advertised as a delicacy around the world. But consumers who
order the dish from a restaurant may not be fully aware of the cruelty
behind the item they have selected.
Foie gras meaning “fatty liver” in French, is the product of force-fed ducks
and geese. These birds are force-fed numerous times a day with a metal tube.
The 10- to 12-inch metal tube inserted into their esophagus pumps grain,
fat, and compressed air into their bodies to enlarge their livers.
Birds raised for foie gras live the entirety of their lives in cruelty. In
their journeys from hatcheries, to overcrowded nursery barns, to confined
feeding barns, they are not given proper care or attention. As a result, the
birds on foie gras farms suffer immensely until the day they are slaughtered
for their diseased livers, somewhere around the age of 3-months-old–a life
they were born into but did nothing to deserve.
Farm Sanctuary, a safe haven for farm animals, has been able to provide
hundreds of neglected animals the lives they deserve, including many from
foie gras farms. In 2005, a rescue from a New York foie gras facility led to
six ducks being saved. One of the birds died after only one week, and two of
them died in the weeks to follow. The only survivors were named Kohl,
Burton, and Harper. The three surviving birds were taken to Farm Sanctuary’s
Watkins Glen shelter, where they were immediately transported to Cornell
University Hospital for Animals for medical attention.
Upon initial arrival to Farm Sanctuary, President and Co-Founder Gene Baur
said, “They had lost the will to live, they were in such pain, they had
given up.”
It is because the inherent cruelty of this industry that Voters for Animals
Rights, along with a coalition comprised of over 50 other nonprofit
organizations, are backing Intro 1378. This bill would “prohibit the sale or
offer for sale of foie gras made from force-fed birds, and in food service
establishments would further prohibit the provision of such foie gras in any
manner.”
With direct knowledge on how the birds in these facilities suffer their
entire lives, Baur is one of the bill’s largest advocates. He wrote this
letter to the members of the City Council stating, “Ducks who have come to
Farm Sanctuary after being rescued from foie gras farms are among the
sickest animals we have cared for in over thirty years.”
Among the birds he is referring to, are the three rescued from the New York
facility. All three birds presented with harsh breath sounds, hepatic
lipidosis, a diseased state of liver enlargement, and other injuries they
had sustained from their previous lives at the foie gras facility.
Additionally, the birds were lethargic, unable to eat on their own, and had
trouble moving around.
Kohl, one of the surviving rescues, faced lifelong injuries due to his time
within foie gras production. From the beginning, veterinarians noted he was
standing on his hocks, which were both enlarged. He was unable to walk
regularly as he had multiple unhealed breaks in his legs. Kohl’s legs
remained deformed throughout his life, never regaining the ability to
properly walk or swim. Regardless, Farm Sanctuary provided Kohl with the
highest quality of life, ensuring he regularly received swim therapy that
enabled him to float in his own pond.
Burton arrived at Farm Sanctuary stumbling under the weight of his ravaged,
force-fed body. His liver was enlarged due to the force-feeding he endured
at the foie gras facility, and his breathing was particularly rough, causing
him to wheeze through his beak as he breathed. Burton, Kohl, and Harper,
were all tube-fed formula for several weeks as they were unable to eat on
their own from the trauma of being force-fed previously.
Harper was severely injured upon arrival as well. He had previously lost his
left eye, presented with bumblefoot, and had a malformed bill and skull
which indicated a former head trauma. After numerous blood cultures were
taken, Harper’s potassium and uric acid levels were found to be dangerously
low. A veterinarian prescribed medications and assigned a strict aftercare
regimen.
All three of the rescued birds in 2005 were bred into an unjust industry,
given a second chance at Farm Sanctuary. Without that chance, the three
brothers would not have received the around-the-clock care they desperately
needed in their beginning months at the sanctuary.
These birds are a painfully real reminder of the atrocities behind foie
gras. They are a reminder that behind the item on a dinner menu is the life
of an innocent being. They show us how the industry is concerned first and
foremost with profits, not the suffering of animals under its roofs, and
that human greed costs animals their lives every single day.
Kohl, Burton, and Harper lived out the remainder of their lives at Farm
Sanctuary in peace. They were able to bask in the sun, swim in ponds, and be
surrounded by other birds. The injuries they sustained while in the New York
foie gras facility affected them for the rest of their lives, but Farm
Sanctuary was able to give them the life they always deserved, despite their
physical disabilities.
The New York City Council is preparing to vote on Intro 1378 sometime this
fall. NYC would join the State of California, Ukraine, Denmark, and dozens
of other jurisdictions in enacting a legal ban to prohibit the sale of foie
gras from force-fed birds.
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