Victory: Harvey's Market Claims To Cease Foie Gras Sales Following Legal Action
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, December 6, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Legal Impact for Chickens2 and Animal Outlook1 announced a significant victory for animal welfare. Harvey's Market, a prominent D.C.-based meat retailer, says it has stopped selling foie gras following legal action.
The decision from the nearly 100-year old butcher follows a lawsuit (case number 2024-CAB-006503) filed by these animal protection groups alleging that Harvey's Market's sale of foie gras violated D.C.'s consumer protection laws. Harvey's Market had been selling foie gras under an advertising banner with the phrases "humanely raised stock," "all natural," and "free range." However, foie gras is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese to enlarge their livers, a practice widely criticized for causing extreme animal suffering.
"Ramming pipes down birds' throats and pumping massive amounts of grain into their stomachs until their livers swell up to ten times their normal size and become diseased is the opposite of 'humane,'" said Ben Williamson, Executive Director of Animal Outlook. "Harvey's Market's decision to stop selling foie gras sends a clear message that there's no place for such extreme animal cruelty in our food system."
"This case sends a clear message to the entire meat industry: you can't market products of extreme animal cruelty as 'humane' and expect to get away with it," said Alene Anello, Executive Director of Legal Impact for Chickens. "Misleading consumers about merciless farming practices isn't just ethically wrong—it's legally actionable."
This victory adds to the growing movement against foie gras, which has already been banned in several jurisdictions worldwide due to animal welfare concerns. The foie gras sold by Harvey's Market was labeled as coming from New York's Hudson Valley, where the two largest foie gras producers in the United States—Hudson Valley Foie Gras, LLC and La Belle Farm, Inc.—are located. The producers receive thousands of ducklings each week. When the ducks reach 12 weeks of age, employees start forcing a tube into each bird's throat first twice, then three times per day, pumping food directly to the bottom of the duck's esophagus. The producers do this to every duck every day for 16–21 days, and then slaughter the ducks.
As alleged in the groups' complaint, forced feeding causes liver disease ("foie gras" literally means "fatty liver") and various other health issues in the ducks; repeatedly forcing tubes down their throats also causes the ducks fear and pain.
About Animal Outlook
Animal Outlook is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) animal advocacy organization based in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, California. It is strategically challenging animal agribusiness through undercover investigations, legal advocacy, corporate and food system reform, and disseminating information about the many harms of animal agriculture, empowering everyone to choose vegan.
About Legal Impact for Chickens
Legal Impact for Chickens (LIC) is a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals and a 501(c)(3) litigation charity. As featured in the Washington Post, LIC advocates for farmed animals by civilly enforcing existing cruelty laws in an agricultural context.
Ben Williamson
Animal Outlook
+1 310-874-0009
bwilliamson@animaloutlook.org
1 https://animaloutlook.org/
2 https://www.legalimpactforchickens.org/
