PROTECT BIRDS.

END CRUELTY.

Join the growing coalition of 100+ local restaurants, veterinarians, and animal rescues that have endorsed Initiative 86.

force-feeding is cruel and unnecessary.

Ducks and geese are still being force-fed until their livers become diseased, all for an expensive dish served at fancy restaurants. It’s time to end this inhumane practice.

What is INITIATIVE 86?

Initiative 86 is a citizen initiative that would prohibit the sale of foie gras made from force-feeding in DC.

Chef Alexis Gauthier

OFFICIAL LEGISLATION TEXT

“The practice of force-feeding ducks for the production of foie gras raises significant behavioral and welfare concerns, breaching at minimum three out of five domains of animal welfare.”

— Dr. Ariel Fagen, DVM, DACVB, Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist

WHAT IS FOIE GRAS?

© FOUR PAWS R&D

Foie gras (French for “fatty liver”) is the diseased liver of a duck or goose. After weeks of daily force-feeding, the birds are slaughtered and their fattened livers are sold at fancy restaurants as a pâté, mousse, or sauce.

Why end force-feeding?

1. cruel to animals

What’s happening to ducks and geese on foie gras farms is shocking, even by factory farming standards.


On ‘foie gras’ farms, ducks and geese are pumped full of corn and oil with long tubes until their livers become fatty and diseased.

The process makes birds so diseased and sick that many can barely walk or stand, as they become too heavy for their legs to hold them.

2. UNNECESSARY

Foie gras is a luxury status symbol sold only at the most expensive restaurants in DC. There is no reason to force-feed animals just to cater to the whims of the wealthy elite.

Foie gras is typically included as a single, often seasonal menu item and is not a main source of revenue for any business here in the District.

A recent blind menu experiment showed that removing foie gras from a restaurant menu actually increased participants’ motivation to dine there by 12 percentage points.

WHAT WOULD INITIATIVE 86 DO?

Initiative 86 Would

  • Stop restaurants and food establishments in DC from selling foie gras produced on farms that use force-feeding
  • Prevent the force-feeding of birds within the District, with an exemption for licensed veterinarians feeding sick birds by tube when medically necessary

Initiative 86 Would Not

  • Restrict the personal consumption or possession of force-fed products
  • Prohibit the sale of foie gras produced without force-feeding

“When I used to serve foie gras, I had no idea about the horrors that hid within its production. I was disturbed when I learnt the truth. … I came across a campaign showing heartbreaking undercover investigative footage of birds on foie gras farms. I watched in disgust, realizing that I could look away no longer. The suffering was unimaginable.”

— French Chef Alexis Gauthier

GET THE FACTS

46,020 signatures

from DC voters collected to put Initiative 86 on the ballot. That’s more signatures than any other initiative in DC history, including Initiative 71 to legalize recreational cannabis.

#2 in the United States

DC is the second-highest foie gras-consuming city in the US. By ending the sale of force-fed foie gras here, we can do our part to end this cruel practice.

40 million

ducks and geese are force-fed worldwide each year for foie gras production. On most ‘foie gras’ farms, birds are kept indoors in crowded barns, cages, or pens and never get to swim or see the sky.

10X fatter

The foie gras industry force-feeds birds to induce fatty liver disease, which causes their livers to swell to 10x their normal, healthy size.

20+ countries

including 85% of the European Union have passed legislation to prohibit force-feeding.

Laws prohibiting the sale of force-fed fatty liver have also been passed in California, New York City, Portland, and Pittsburgh.

“Recent video footage from DC’s top supplier of foie gras shows ducks pressing into the corner of the pen and practically climbing on top of each other in an attempt to get as far away as possible from the worker carrying out the force-feeding. This is clear avoidance behavior consistent with fear and distress, and strongly suggests that the ducks find the foce-feeding process aversive.”

— Dr. Mickey Pardo, Senior Scientist, PhD in Animal Behavior from Cornell University

CRUELTY HAS NO PLACE IN DC

Producers say force-feeding causes only brief discomfort, but in reality, birds raised for foie gras suffer constantly.

As their liver disease progresses, many become too sick to walk or stand, and they routinely come away from feedings with broken beaks and throat injuries.

Ducks and geese need to regularly submerge their heads to clean their eyes and nostrils, but force-fed birds are denied access to water for bathing, leaving them with painful, chronic eye infections.

Most force-fed birds never swim or see the sky. They’re born in dimly lit sheds and, once old enough, moved into small pens or cages where they stand on dirty grates and endure force-feedings two to three times per day.

This is what the industry calls humane. DC should be leading on animal protection, not lagging behind. It’s time to end the sale of products made from cruel force-feeding.

Watch video footage of ducks being force-fed inside a foie gras factory farm that sells to DC restaurants.

Who is leading Initiative 86?

Pro-Animal DC is the campaign committee behind Initiative 86, a grassroots movement of voters, volunteers, endorsers, and donors dedicated to passing laws and electing candidates that reflect DC’s values of compassion and humane treatment of animals. Nearly 130 dedicated volunteers helped put Initiative 86 on the ballot, alongside endorsements from 100+ local veterinarians, restaurants, elected officials, and animal rescues. Want to help get it across the finish line? Sign up to volunteer.

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