OneKind has collaborated with some of the UK’s leading animal welfare organisations to speak out against Fortnum and Mason in a bid to end the sale of foie gras in their London store.
OneKind, together with RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming, Animal Defenders International, Animal Aid, Viva!, Four Paws, Save Me and International Veterinary Information Society have joined PETA in voicing their opposition to the cruel practice of foie gras production in a letter to the store’s managing director, Ewan Venters.
Geese and ducks which are raised for foie gras are force fed huge amounts of grain three or four times a day via a metal funnel which is rammed down the animal’s throat. The birds’ livers swell up to ten times their original size, resulting in a disease known as “hepatic steatosis”. The animals often have trouble walking, drinking and even breathing as their engorged livers press against their lungs. At the time of force feeding, around 15-18 days before slaughter, the birds are kept restrained in very small individual wire cages with their head protruding so that their neck is easy to grasp.
Fois gras is not produced in the UK as it would be prohibited under Britain’s animal welfare legislation. However foie gras can still be imported and sold around the UK. According to a survey commissioned by the RSPCA, 63% of Britons wish to see an outright ban on the sale of foie gras . A ComRes poll for BBC Countryfile also found that 90% of Britons say that animal welfare is important to them. These findings quite drastically contradict the statement by Fortnum and Mason that those opposing the production of foie gras represent less than 1% of the population.
OneKind has a history in the campaign against the sale of foie gras. In June 2007 OneKind along with Chairman the Duchess of Hamilton and her late husband, the Duke of Hamilton were influential in the decision of Jenners in Edinburgh to stop selling the product. It was a long awaited victory after boycotting the House of Fraser store since 2000.
If you know of a shop or restaurant selling foie gras and would like to take action you can then hand the fact file (link below) into the given establishment and express to them why they should boycott the sale of this inhumane product.
Foie Gras should be banned everywhere!
This is barbaric!
ban foie gras
why must people torture to feed themselves this is so disgusting harming hurting torturing harmless animals that just want to live as we also want to live
Foie Gras is organised cruelty and should be BANNED everywhere!