Schwarzenegger Terminates Foie Gras

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 5, 2004

 

Schwarzenegger Terminates Foie Gras

 

LOS ANGELES, CA--Laurent Manrique, a Bay Area chef embroiled in

controversy over his support for the force-feeding of ducks to produce

foie gras, hoped to serve his specialty at a recent fundraiser for

Governor Schwarzenegger. However, the menu was changed in the wake of a

cruelty lawsuit being brought against California's only foie gras farm,

and a recent bill introduced by Senator John Burton to ban the painful

force-feeding practice.

 

As reported in Leah Garchik's column in the March 5 San Francisco

Chronicle, " aides to Schwarzenegger, apparently wishing to portray him as

a friend to ducks, stepped in and changed the menu. "

 

" We are glad that the Governor of California does not want to

associate with a business that force-feeds ducks to the point of organ

rupture, " states Kath Rogers of the Animal Protection and Rescue League

(www.APRL.org). " These ducks are being forced to consume 20 percent of

their healthy body weight per day for an expensive appetizer while

children starve. "

 

The group points out that the movement to ban force-feeding is a

non-partisan one. In New York State, where the country.s only other foie

gras farm is located, a bill has been introduced by Republican Senator

Padavan to end the practice. Democrats in the Assembly are also sponsoring

the measure, giving it majority party sponsorship in both houses. Over a

dozen other nations have already banned force-feeding.

 

In what critics are calling desperate measures to prop up a dying

industry, foie gras producers have been lying to the media and the public

about their production methods. Laurent Manrique, who is a business

partner with the company APRL is suing for cruelty, has been quoted

several times declaring that the ducks are " not force fed. "

 

A posting at http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/12/1664389.php

suggests that Manrique may have been lying about another matter as well,

when he claimed that his toddler son was videotaped at his house by

stalkers opposed to the force-feeding. According to the post--which

purports to have information from law enforcement who saw the

tape--Manrique was videotaped in his yard but his family was not.

 

" After we exposed what was going on at these farms last year with

our cruelty investigation, the owners hired a PR firm to portray

themselves as the victims, " states Rogers. " The gross neglect and

deliberate violence we have witnessed and documented at the only two foie

gras farms in the U.S. can only be described as perverse and sadistic. "

 

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APRL is a registered 501©(3) not-for-profit organization. All

contributions are tax deductible. Please see www.APRL.org for more

information.