Win for Ducks: Federal Court Reinstates California’s Foie Gras Ban!

In a victory for ducks and geese, today’s unanimous 3-0 decision from the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals reenacts California’s ban on cruel foie gras!

The court’s powerful decision states, “As societal values change, so too do our notions of acceptable food products…California, like a growing number of countries around the world, has concluded that force-fed foie gras is…repugnant.”

Translated as “fatty liver,” foie gras is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese abnormally large quantities of food through pipes shoved down their throats, causing their livers to become diseased and swell up to ten times the normal size. The birds are slaughtered after 28 days of force-feeding, and their engorged livers are marketed as “foie gras.”

California’s law banning sales of this cruel product went into effect in 2012, but in a disastrous ruling for ducks, was overturned in district court in 2015 after being challenged by foie gras producers, including Hudson Valley Foie Gras, and a restaurant group.

Today’s ruling from the 9th Circuit overturned the lower court’s 2015 ruling that California’s ban was in conflict with the Poultry Products Inspection Act. The 9th Circuit found that the federal act did not preempt California’s law and did not “stand in the way of society’s evolving standards regarding animal treatment.”

Compassion Over Killing’s video filmed inside Hudson Valley Foie Gras, the nation’s largest foie gras factory farm, reveals the heartbreaking reality behind this “delicacy.” Though taken during a provided “white-gloved” tour of the facility, our hidden-camera footage reveals suffering birds being force-fed, grabbed by their wings, and shackled upside down as they’re killed.

More than a dozen nations, including Germany, Israel, Italy, Argentina, and the United Kingdom have permanently banned foie gras, showing that this cruel abuse of ducks and geese just won’t fly.

Be kind to our feathered friends! Try this compassionate faux gras, and visit TryVeg.com for lots more vegan recipes!