FROM THE DESK OF HAPPY TRAILS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ANNETTE FISHER:

     It greatly saddens me to know that in this world there are people capable of unspeakable crimes of cruelty. What disturbs me even more, is that good people, people who are compassionate and kind and caring, look away from these situations in frustration and feel that there is nothing they can do to help spread their feelings of compassion and kindness and caring.
     Please know that there IS something you can do! Everyone's voice, raised together, can move mountains and create a better world and work to eliminate unneccessary suffering.
     The below details of the foie gras industry, compliments of Farm Sanctuary, are difficult to read for everyone — myself included — and I have even been part of numerous undercover investigations into animal cruelty situations right here in Ohio. I don't believe you ever become immune to the atrocities that you witness. However, if we turn a blind eye toward animal cruelty, and simply shake our heads and ignore the people capable of committing such attrocities, where does that leave us as a society? And how can we show and spread our compassion for all living creatures if we choose to ignore the horrific yet legal practices that take place daily in the lives of our farm animals?
   Please do as I did — take a deep breath and slowly and carefully read the update below from Farm Sanctuary. Do it on behalf of Rockwell and Pookie, two wonderful, sweet and gentle ducks who are currently available for adoption through Happy Trails, and do it on behalf of their counterparts who are not as fortunate as they are to have experienced a gentle hand and a kind word during their lifetime. Thank you!

FROM THE DESK OF FARM SANCTUARY:

Please ask Canadian Government to Investigate Canada's Foie Gras Industry

Farm Sanctuary, (you can check out their website at www.farmsanctuary.org ) in cooperation with Canadian group Global Action Network (GAN), has released Round 2 of its investigation into the Canadian foie gras industry. The undercover footage shot at Aux Champs D’Elise and Palmex, the second and third-largest foie gras producers in Canada respectively, further confirms the immense cruelty inherent in the production of foie gras.

Video and photographic evidence from Palmex and Champs D’Elise show ducks suffering the gruesome after-effects of force feeding: ducks gasping for breath, choking blood and regurgitated food, many barely able to hold up their heads. Others are shown dead in their cages, having succumbed to the debilitating effects of being force fed up to a third of their own body weight daily.

In addition to dead and dying ducks, undercover footage shot over a 5-day period by an investigator working at Aux Champs D’Elise depicts shocking acts of cruelty: employees bashing the heads of ducks against the concrete floor, hurling them through the air by their necks and even sawing off an animal’s head, all while the ducks are fully conscious.

See for yourself. Watch Farm Sanctuary's video, “Culinary Cruelty: Undercover in Canada” and distribute this alert widely:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikRV0Z-pHB0

This latest investigation into the Canadian foie gras industry is a follow up to Farm Sanctuary and GAN's June 2007 release of an investigation into Elevages Perigord, Canada's largest foie gras producer. You can view this investigative video at: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/actionalerts/alert_FG7-17-07.htm.

Combined, the three Canadian producers investigated—Elevages Perigord, Palmex and Aux Champs D’Elise—produce over 80% of Canada's foie gras. At least one-third of Canada's foie gras is exported to the U.S. and effectively comprises 72% of the foie gras imported by the U.S. (with the remainder coming from France).

Based on the incontrovertible evidence of rampant cruelty in Canada's foie gras industry, Farm Sanctuary and Global Action Network are calling upon Canada's Minster of Agriculture to investigate Canada's foie gras industry and to put an end to its unabashed cruelty.

What you can do:

Please contact Canada's Minister of Agriculture and ask him to fully investigate Canada's foie gras industry and to take all steps necessary to stop its cruelty.

    Minister of Agriculture Chuck Strahl
    Sir John Carling Building
    930 Carling Avenue
    Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C5
    Canada
    (note: a normal postal letter to Canada requires 69 cents postage)
    613-759-1059
    Ottawa@chuckstrahl.com