ON a recent visit to an open-air market in Darlington I was appalled to see one of the stalls selling foie gras.
Foie gras is French for “fatty liver” and is produced by shoving metal pipes down the throats of restrained 12-weekold ducks and geese. They are force-fed with grain until their livers become grossly enlarged, fatty and diseased.
It’s the equivalent to an adult human eating up to 28lbs of spaghetti a day. After two-three weeks their livers will have increased to about ten times their normal size.
The pipes used to force food directly into birds’ stomachs often puncture their throats and some birds bleed to death.
Most birds are kept in wire cages so small they have no room to turn around or stretch their wings.
Their feet are often injured by the wire floor. Its production is banned in 15 countries, including the UK.
Two-thirds of Britons oppose this cruel practice. I urge Darlington Borough Council to take a leaf out of the book of York City Council and ban the sale of this disgusting product within its area.
Name supplied, Co Durham.
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