Mailing action on the World Day Against Foie Gras

Mr President, [or Mr or Mrs. Ambassador,]

On November 26, an international mobilization is calling your country to put an end to the force-feeding (gavage) of ducks and geese to produce foie gras.

As animals are sentient beings, force-feeding is condemned by a growing number of citizens, agri-food businesses, and countries throughout the world.

European law specifies that “No animal shall be provided with food or liquid in a manner (…) which may cause unnecessary suffering or injury”. The European Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare emphasizes that “force-feeding, as currently practised, is detrimental to the welfare of the birds.”

And yet, to produce foie gras, birds are force-fed with a large quantity of unbalanced feed using a tube thrust down the crop. To prevent the birds from escaping they are locked in individual cages (prohibited since 2011 but still used) or in collective cages. In two weeks, the volume of their liver undergoes a ten-fold increase in volume. For every duck or goose who dies while raised with natural feeding, up to twenty times that number die during the force-feeding period, as a consequence of wounds or infections caused by the metal tube or due to the failure of vital organs.

As a citizen concerned by the suffering of animals, I am urging France to implement the European regulations on its territory and to prohibit the force-feeding of ducks and geese to produce foie gras.

Yours respectfully,