[baarn] Bay Area Activists Ask Wolfgang Puck to Stop Torturing Ducks

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It should read Sat December 18th !christine wrote:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 16, 2004CONTACT: Alison Stoll, 917-710-7390astollBay Area Activists Ask Wolfgang Puck to Stop Torturing DucksThursday, December 16— As part of a nationwide campaign against WolfgangPuck’s ongoing promotion of cruel foie gras and veal, activists willgather outside his book-signing event on Saturday, December 15 to askhim to stop endorsing animal cruelty. The protest, to occur on one ofthe busiest shopping days of the year, will be held in conjunction withPuck’s public appearance at Macy’s Union Square in San Francisco.Video footage of the suffering on veal farms and foie gras farms will bedisplayed, and activists will hand out educational literature and holdsigns declaring, “Wolfgang Puck Tortures Ducks.” The San Franciscoprotest comes on the heels of Puck’s

book-signing event in Maui, whereprotestors successfully convinced the Four Seasons in Maui to removefoie gras from an upcoming event menu.As a high-profile chef, Wolfgang Puck has had a hand in promoting bothfoie gras and veal on menus in U.S. restaurants. Veal and foie grasare produced using what are widely acknowledged to be among thecruelest factory farming practices. Foie gras ducks are immobilized intiny cages while they are force fed up to the brink of death. Vealcalves are similarly tortured, chained by their necks inside tinywooden crates and fed an iron-deficient diet that keeps them weak andanemic.Although humane advocates have approached Puck numerous times to try toconvince him to stop his aggressive promotion of veal and foie gras, hehas turned a deaf ear to activists’ pleas and continues to peddle bothfoie gras and white, crated veal on the menus of his restaurants.Many counties prohibit these

inhumane practices, and recently,California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that willprohibit the force feeding of ducks and geese to produce foie gras by2012. Similar legislation is being pursued in Massachusetts and NewYork in the upcoming legislative session.In addition, hundreds of restaurants and establishments around thecountry have pledged not to serve foie gras or crated veal. For moreinformation about legislative efforts to ban foie gras and for a listof establishments that have signed pledges to not serve foie gras orveal, see www.NoFoieGras.org and http://NoVeal.org/restaurants.htm.