Protect those who have no voice - Animals
Israel enforces foie gras ban
A goose being force-fed to produce foie gras.
In April, Israel instituted a ban on
force-feeding geese and ducks in order to produce foie gras, despite a delaying
tactic by its Ministry of Agriculture who is trying to save the industry from
closure.
The ban is the result of a campaign led by Anonymous for Animal Rights
(AAR), with support from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)
and
comes two years after the Supreme Court in Israel ruled that the
production of foie gras causes unacceptable suffering and is therefore in
violation of the law. Enforcement of the judge's ruling – a landmark decision
for animal welfare – was deferred until 2005 amid fears an immediate ban would
cause job losses in the recession-hit Israeli economy.
Foie gras is pate produced by force-feeding
geese and ducks several times every day, greatly exceeding the quantity that the
birds would normally eat. A metal tube is inserted into the birds' throats so
that food can be compressed into their stomachs. The process causes the birds'
livers to enlarge by up to 10 times their normal size and often results in
degenerative disease.
Israel's
Ministry of Agriculture now hopes to save the foie gras industry from closure by
sponsoring an experiment aimed at developing a more ‘humane' method of
production that would not contradict the animal protection law. The
method being tested uses a flexible tube instead of a metal tube to force-feed
geese and ducks. Requests by the Ministry for the ban to be delayed until 2006
were finally rejected earlier this year.
Leah
Garcés, WSPA's Campaigns Director, said, “This is fantastic news and we hope
that other countries will follow Israel's example and make the force-feeding of
animals illegal. However, as long as people continue to eat foie gras, the
suffering of these animals will continue and producers will seek to find ways to
exploit loopholes in the law.”
A six-year campaign by animal welfare groups,
including AAR, WSPA and Noah (The Israeli Association of Animal
Protection Organizations), was responsible for changing the opinion of the
Israeli public to a point where foie gras is now perceived as a morally
defective food.
Israel produces about 300 tons of foie gras a year. France is the leading
producer, followed by Hungary and Bulgaria.