Woman ‘Force-Fed’ Through Tube in PETA Foie Gras Protest
Today, on St George’s Day , a PETA supporter in a red-and-white English flag–style dress sat at a dinner table – under which a sign read “Foie Gras is Barbaric, not British!” – and was “force-fed” her dinner through a tube.
This represents how foie gras producers pump grain into the stomachs of terrified geese and ducks to enlarge their livers, a process that’s so un-British it’s illegal in the UK. The animals are rounded up and have a metal tube forced down their throats several times a day, causing oesophagitis. They also commonly suffer from wing lesions, dermatitis, and bone abnormalities as a result of the conditions on foie gras farms.
Why Are We Protesting?
After Fortnum & Mason stopped selling foie gras following a decade-long PETA campaign, the UK government announced that it will ban the import and sale of the vile product in a post-Brexit move – and PETA is calling on George Eustace MP to state exactly when and how the ban will be enacted.
Nothing could be less patriotic in a country known for its compassion for animals than selling a product made from the diseased bodies of abused birds. High tea, cricket, and warm pints? Yes. Foie gras? Absolutely not!
What’s Wrong With Foie Gras?
To produce foie gras, ducks and geese are force-fed several times a day until their livers become diseased and swell to around 10 times their natural size. Imagine being forced to eat 20 kilograms of pasta each day. That’s the human equivalent of the nearly 2 kilograms of food that’s forced down these birds’ throats every single day.
PETA exposés have revealed that the long metal feeding pipes leave some birds so badly injured that they have holes in their necks and broken beaks.
By the end of their short lives, many birds are unable to walk normally or even struggle to breathe because their enlarged livers compress their lungs.
Let the Government Know You Support the Ban
The overwhelming majority of Brits – 79% – want to see a ban on the importation of foie gras.
Now that the UK has left the EU single market, policymakers have an opportunity to close our borders to this inhumane and barbaric trade.
The government has acknowledged how cruel its production is, and in its 2021 Action Plan for Animal Welfare committed to “building a clear evidence base to inform decisions on banning the import or sale of foie gras”. But this isn’t good enough.
Let the government know that you support the ban by signing our petition:
