California lawmakers passed a bill in 2004 phasing out force-feeding ducks to produce foie gras – literally, a fatty liver. The law goes into effect June 2012.
Guillermo Gonzales of Sonoma Foie Gras, major producer of foie gras, along with some other chefs are proposing an override of the law, backing down on his promise to abide by it. We hope his efforts will fail as California voters overwhelmingly passed Prop 2 to phase out the extreme confinement of animals on factory farms.
HSUS tells us that Wolfgang Puck, famous California chef, recently sent a letter to 5,000 fine dining restaurants in California urging them to comply with the law. Chef Puck stopped selling foie gras in 2007.
It is inhumane to force-feed ducks 3 times a day for weeks, making their livers swell to 10 times more than normal size and then using the final product as a “delicacy.”
Lawmaker John Burton, author of the 2004 bill said, “We don’t need to re-debate the cruelty of force-feeding. For the sake of animals and the Californians who care about them, we should simply celebrate that 7 1/2 years of waiting is almost over.”
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