DawnWatch: Foie gras lawsuits fill California media

[Guest guest]

KarenDawn (Karen Dawn)

 

 

 

 

 

 

California media has continued to cover the foie gras controversy this week.

The Bay Area ABC affiliate, Channel 7, which originally aired a story on

September 16, following the restaurant vandalism, aired a follow up report on

Wednesday, October 22. It covered lawsuits, countering each other, filed by foie

gras producers and activists. The coverage came across as balanced, but included

plenty of foie gras footage, so was helpful to our cause. An image I found

particularly shocking was that of a duck liver intentionally bloated to make

foie gras, displayed next to a normal duck liver. I cannot imagine the pain from

a liver that size in an animal the size of a duck. You can view the Wednesday

night story, and read some of the text, on line at:

<A

HREF= " http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/iteam/102203_iteam_foie_gras_folo.html " >ht\

tp://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/iteam/102203_iteam_foie_gras_folo.html</A>

 

Please thank the I-Team for continuing to cover this issue and encourage

them, in your own words, to keep us up to date. The I-team takes comments at:

<A

HREF= " http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/iteam/email_iteam.html " >http://abclocal.go\

..com/kgo/news/iteam/email_iteam.html</A>

 

The San Francisco Chronicle covered the story on Thursday, October 23 (Pg.

A21) in an article by Chuck Squatriglia, headed " Foie gras farmer sued by animal

rights groups. " Squatriglia opens with:

 

" Two Bay Area animal rights groups pushing for a statewide ban on the

production of foie gras are suing a Central Valley farm that raises ducks for

the

French delicacy, arguing it is breaking the law by force-feeding the animals to

enlarge their livers.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Sonoma County Superior Court, accuses Sonoma

Foie Gras of violating state laws against cruelty toward animals by forcing

its ducks to consume so much food that their livers enlarge to 12 times their

normal size. The practice 'results in extreme, unmitigated pain and suffering as

well as crippling injuries,' the suit says. "

 

We learn, " The lawsuit was filed two days after Sonoma Foie Gras sued Pease

and three other activists, accusing them of trespassing to videotape the ducks

and stealing four birds Sept. 17. "

 

The article, which discusses some of the cruelty in foie gras, and the

injuries to the animals, can be read on line at:

<A

HREF= " http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/10/\

23/BAG9T2H4LV14.DTL " >http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/a\

rchive/2003/10/23/B

AG9T2H4LV14.DTL</A>

 

The Chronicle story, and those cited below from other papers, provide

excellent opportunities for pro-veg letters to the editor. The San Francisco

Chronicle takes letters at: <A

HREF= " letters " >letters</A> Always include

your full name,

address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter

letters are more likely to be published.

 

The story, headed " Dueling lawsuits over foie gras, " by Dana Hull, appeared

in the Thursday, October 23, San Jose Mercury News. You can read it on line at:

<A

HREF= " http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7082634.htm " >http://www.\

bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7082634.htm</A>

The Mercury News takes letters at: <A

HREF= " letters " >letters</A>

It was also a top story in the Thursday, October 24, Sonoma News. You can

read the article at: <A

HREF= " http://www.sonomanews.com/articles/2003/10/24/news/top_stories/news03.txt " \

>

http://www.sonomanews.com/articles/2003/10/24/news/top_stories/news03.txt</A>

That paper takes letters at: <A

HREF= " https://secure.townnews.com/sonomanews.com/forms/letters.php " >

https://secure.townnews.com/sonomanews.com/forms/letters.php</A>

 

Santa Rosa's Press Democrat's version can be read at:

<A

HREF= " http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/23foiegras_b1.html " >http://www.pre\

ssdemocrat.com/local/news/23foiegras_b1.html</A>

That paper takes letters at:

<A HREF= " letters " >letters</A>

 

And the Los Angeles Times covered the story on October 22, (Pg.10) in an

article, by Monte Morin, headed, " Foie Gras Firm Sues Activists Over Raids. "

That

paper has not yet covered the counter lawsuit by the activists. You can read

the Los Angeles Times article at: <A

HREF= " http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-suit22oct22,1,7510141.story " >

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-suit22oct22,1,7510141.story</A>

The Los Angeles Times takes letters at: <A

HREF= " letters " >letters</A>

 

Some of the articles note that the production of foie gras has recently been

banned in Israel and is illegal in many other countries. For your interest, I

include a link to the text of the complete Israeli Supreme Court verdict in

English:

<A

HREF= " http://www.chai-online.org/foiegras_verdict.htm " >http://www.chai-online.or\

g/foiegras_verdict.htm</A>

 

 

Yours and the animals',

Karen Dawn

www.DawnWatch.com

 

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in

the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets.

You can learn more about it at www.DawnWatch.com. To to DawnWatch,

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