Protest against the sale of Foie Gras - outside the Pearl Brasserie

dublin | animal rights | news report Monday July 14, 2008 15:11 by Laura Broxson - National Animal Rights Association naracampaigns at gmail dot com PO Box 11019, Dublin 2

The National Animal Rights Association staged another protest outside the Pearl Brasserie, on Saturday 12th July.

We stayed there for over 2hours, had no hassle whatsoever on the night, and received a lot of support from passers-by.

No Gardai were called, and the protest went without incident.

We have already gotten 4 restaurants to stop serving this dish of cruelty, and we won't stop until we get a total ban on the import of foie gras in Ireland.

If you'd like to get involved in our campaigns, or know of any restaurant not on our list that is serving foie gras, please get in touch.

Foie Gras Facts

Foie gras is made from the forcibly enlarged livers of ducks and geese. Only males are used for foie gras, because they produce larger livers. Females are killed upon hatching, by being either drowned, beaten or crushed to death.

A long metal pipe is rammed down the throats of these ducks and geese, 2 - 3 times a day, to force-feed them a total of 7lbs of grain. This soon results in their livers swelling to up to 10 times their normal size - which is actually a serious disease called hepatic lipidosis.

The metal pipe sometimes ruptures the oesophagus, causing many birds to die, choking on the blood that then fills their lungs. The amount of feed pumped down their throats causes enormous internal pressure, causing some birds to literally burst. Others become so weak that they are unable to move or die a slow, painful, and premature death by suffocating on the inhalation of regurgitated feed. In fact, because of the massive toll taken on the birds during the force-feeding process, the average pre-slaughter mortality rate is up to twenty times higher than on other poultry factory farms.

In addition to enduring force-feeding, the ducks and geese also suffer the same neglectful and abusive treatment of other factory-farmed animals such as overcrowding and mutilations (their beaks are cut off). They are kept in either group or individual cages, made solely from wire or plastic-mesh. Unable to feel the sun on their backs or ground beneath their feet, their cages are so small that they cannot fully stand or stretch their wings. To make matters worse, they are housed without access to swimming water even though ducks need to be able to immerse themselves in water to remain healthy. Access to water on these farms is so limited that they cannot clean their nostrils and eyes, which can lead to blindness. They have no chance to carry out any of their natural instincts, which include interacting in social groups, keeping themselves clean, nurturing their young, and exploring their surroundings.

After living an unbelievably horrific and painful life, they then have to go through a violent death by having their throats slit whilst hung upside-down.