EVERY year millions of ducks and geese go through the cruel foie gras production line.

Tubes are pushed into their throats as many as three times a day, and vast quantities of corn are pumped down, eventually causing their livers to swell to a size up to 10 times of a normally fed bird.

The process is extremely stressful and painful, and frequently causes internal damage or infection.

These are waterfowl, but who never see water, apart from that which they are given to drink.

Their lives are short and miserable, and by the time they are ready for slaughter, they have difficulty in walking and breathing.

Foie gras means "fatty liver". It is not produced in the UK, but we import it and it is sold as a delicacy in many shops and restaurants.

Those who eat it are consuming 85 per cent fat, raising their own cholesterol levels and contributing to other possible health risks.

Foie gras is one of the worst and most degrading forms of animal abuse, and is yet another example of the brutality of the meat industry.

It is an indictment of mankind such a system was every conceived.

I urge readers to boycott foie gras. If we stop eating it, imports will cease and we will be better for it.


C Pope
Nurstead Road
Erith