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Goodeaterkenji - thank you so much for your comments! I couldn't have said it better myself. My name's Eileen and I am the current president of Students for Animal Welfare at the Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine. Last month, I also had the opportunity for visit the farm in Hudson Valley, NY. The reason I decided to go was because I wanted to see first hand, and decide for myself how inhumane froie gras production was. I followed the production from ducklings to gavaging to slaughter and I must agree that the ducks at this farm are treated far better than most any other production animal. Before coming to veterinary school, I had years of experience working with wild ducks at a local wildlife rehabilitation center. Ducks are my favorite animal. These ducks at the Hudson Valley farm were not stressed and they were well treated.

I also want to make a few comments regarding anthropomorphism and how it affects animal welfare. People tend to judge and value animals based on how much the animals remind us of ourselves. Chimpanzees and dogs are obviously worthy of consideration since they're social and intelligent in ways to which we can relate. Chickens, lizards and mice on the other hand - well, not many people lose much sleep if a lizard is eaten by a dog... but it a dog is eaten by a snake, that's another story. What makes these animals so much less worthy of our compassion? These "lower" species are deemed less worthy of consideration because they don't remind us quite as much of ourselves....I guess ducks are cute enough to make the cut.

In many ways, anthropomorphism is a very good thing - it is what drives us to want to help animals in need! But often times the acts of well intentioned people are misguided and ultimately end up doing more harm than good. For example, take the issue of horse slaughter. Until recently, tens of thousands of unwanted horses were being slaughtered and exported for meat to countries like France and Japan each year. Many people were so disturbed by the thought of slaughtering a horse that they pushed for legislature to ban horse slaughter...many of them went so far as to open horse sanctuaries.The problem is that horses are expensive to feed and keep and many horses ended up dying from starvation and malnutrition. Many more are now being shipped to Mexico for slaughter (where welfare slaughter standards are much more lax). The road to hell is paved with good intentions right?

In regards to gavaging ducks - ducks do not have a gag reflex like we do. What's more, these ducks have evolved to eat large thorny fish - and they have developed a thick layer of cornified epithelium (thick calloused skin - like at the bottom of our feet!) to deal with this. They could care less about a smooth 1 inch wide tube being passed down their throat - they react much more to the physical handling of being fed. Again, I am extremely familiar with duck behavior and the ducks being gavaged at this farm were not stressed...I think there are also cortisol studies to back this up.

In my opinion, the people at PETA have used people's good intentions to manipulate and deceive the general public.

To people out that have been refraining from eating froie gras because of animal welfare concerns, I applaud you for being so thoughtful. I encourage anyone to take a tour of the foie gras facilities at Hudson Valley, they are very nice people and would be happy to have you.

To the members of PETA, shame on you for focusing so much energy on a non-issue. There are plenty of legitimate animal welfare issues out there that must be addressed. Tens of millions of animals are being euthanized in shelters each day because of irresponsible pet ownership. Large scale, profit driven agriculture have lowered our welfare standards to a point where squeezing multiple chickens into a small battery cage is morally acceptable...

I lose sleep over eating eggs and bacon, and over not doing more for the local animal shelters. Foie gras isn't even on my radar anymore.