Daily Mail (London)

                        December 13, 2006

SECTION: ED 1ST; Pg. 48

HEADLINE: Foie gras rejects that are shredded alive;
Female goslings discarded as they don't make enough profit

BYLINE: ALLAN HALL

BODY:
THIS is the cost of gourmet food a production line of death for young
female ducks and geese.
To the producers of foie gras, female hatchlings are of little use. They
do not grow at the same rate as the males, and give a slower return on
investment.
So instead of being force-fed until their livers swell to make the
delicacy, they are shredded while still alive.
Taken in secret by animal rights campaigners in a factory near Budapest
in Hungary, these photographs expose the young birds' cruel fate.
Separated by factory hands when only days old, they are dropped into a
giant funnel that leads to the blades which slice them into feed for
other animals.
This photograph is the first to be printed in Europe showing live
animals being shredded.
Markus Pfeuffer of German animal charity Four Paws said: 'This is the
true price of "gourmet" foie gras.
'This is what we do in a so-called civilised society to creatures still
living. We need a total EU wide ban on imports and the manufacture of
foie gras.' People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals pressure group
said in a statement: 'Live chicks being shredded to their deaths in a
whirling blade is only one part of the problem.
'To swell their livers up to ten times their normal size, pipes are
repeatedly shoved down birds' throats, puncturing many birds' throats
causing them to bleed to death. Foie gras is a delicacy of misery and
despair.' PETA also pointed out that Pope Benedict XVI denounced
force-feeding as being in violation of Biblical principles.
Foie gras is the liver of geese or ducks which are force fed with grain
for up to a month before they are slaughtered so their swollen livers
can be harvested for humans to eat. Production has been outlawed in the
UK, Germany, the Czech Republic, Finland, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland,
Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, and Israel and other countries.
Hungary is the world's second largest producer after France.
In 2005, France produced 18,450 tons of foie gras 75 per cent of the
world's estimated total production of 23,500 tons. More than 95 per cent
was duck liver and the rest goose liver. Total French consumption of
foie gras was 19,000 tons in 2005.
France is the principal market for Hungarian foie gras, which is mainly
exported raw.
Approximately 30,000 Hungarian goose farmers are dependent on the
industry.
Hungarian foie gras products are sold in the UK, even though production
is outlawed here.
Many products marked Produce of France may contain livers from Hungarian
birds.
The EU wants to outlaw the practice of force-feeding birds within 15
years.
In America animal rights workers have reported that female ducklings and
goslings are stuffed into nylon sacks and dumped into scalding water.
Workers killed the survivors by smashing their heads against dustbins.
a.h...@dailymail.co.uk

See also: http://tinyurl.com/umxjh

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