Israel Bans Force-Feeding Geese For Foie-Gras

by ANC Staff (with credit to FarmedAnimal.Net)

The Israeli Supreme Court ruled this month that the method used to produce foie gras (liver pate) is cruel and that the Health Ministry regulations permitting it are illegal.

Israeli law prohibits unnecessary cruelty to animals. The court majority opinion stated that long-accepted agricultural practices are not exempted from this law.

Force-feeding geese will therefore become illegal in Israel in March 2005.

Israel is the world’s 3rd largest foie gras producer, but the practice has already been banned in England, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria, Belgium and Germany.

According to Anonymous for Animal Rights (AAR), a leader in the decade-long campaign for the ban, a recent survey found that 69% of Israelis consider force-feeding ducks and geese to be animal abuse.

"The process, in which a metal tube is inserted into the goose’s throat, through which food is compressed into his stomach, is violent and harmful," explained one of the justices.

"The process causes a degenerative disease of the goose liver, and its enlargement up to 10 times its original size," he said.

A video of the procedure was shown in court. Photographs of the force-feeding procedure can be seen at:
www.anonymous.org.il/e-pic-geese.htm.
Due to Israel’s current economic recession, the court gave the industry a year and a half to come up with a humane alternative production method. Both sides, however, expressed doubt that such a method could be found.

"Any method that achieves the aim of swelling the liver is going to entail cruelty," said Andre Menache, a prominent animal protection advocate and veterinary surgeon.

AAR believes the issue may next move to the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset) with the industry trying to get regulations passed to bypass the court decision.

The most prolific producer and consumer of foie gras in the world is France, and Hungary is also a major producer. Foie gras production is also still legal in the U.S.

A campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently succeeded in persuading the Boston Symphony Orchestra to forego the serving of foie gras at its August gala.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.