Current Press Releases

Will Chicago's City Council Flip-Flop On Animal Cruelty?

Experts on Animal Welfare, Ethics and the Law Join Humane and Interfaith Leaders to Voice Support for Chicago's Foie Gras Ordinance

Chicago, IL - September 26, 2006 - Alderman Joe Moore (49th Ward) was joined on Tuesday by experts in animal welfare, ethics, the law, religious leaders and representatives from humane organizations, in calling upon the Chicago City Council to stand by its strong and principled vote against animal cruelty, and reject any attempt to repeal Chicago's humane law against the sale of foie gras.

Alderman Moore's foie gras ordinance, which went into effect in August, passed the City Council by a landslide vote of 48 to 1. However, Aldermen Burton Natarus (42nd Ward) and Bernard Stone (50th Ward) have recently introduced a proposal to repeal the humane measure.

"Our city is better for taking a stance against cruelty to animals," said Alderman Joe Moore. "We made the case for compassion and human decency. Now, let's move on to other pressing matters."

Foie gras (translated from French as "fatty liver") is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese two or three times each day through a pipe shoved down their throats. The force-feeding can cause painful bruising, lacerations, sores, and even organ rupture. Due to this unhealthy and unnatural diet, the birds' livers become diseased and can swell up to 10 times their normal size, making it difficult for the birds to walk or even breathe, and many suffer a slow death before reaching slaughter. Experts assert the practice is abusive and cruel, and examinations of birds following slaughter reveal ruptured esophagi and livers, grossly swollen and discolored livers, and a host of internal and external infections.

Fifteen countries have laws prohibiting foie gras production on ethical grounds, and, in 2004, California passed the first U.S. law to end the production and sale of foie gras in the state. A Zogby poll conducted in September 2005 revealed 79 percent of likely voters in Illinois agree that foie gras production should be outlawed.

Those who joined Alderman Moore at Tuesday's press conference in support of upholding the current law include a representative for the renowned scholar, Professor Martha Nussbaum of the University of Chicago School of Law; Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk of the National Catholic Bioethics Center; Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Anshe Shalom Synagogue, member of the Rabbinical Council of America, the Chicago Board of Rabbis and the Chicago Rabbinical Council; Professor Cherie Travis of De Paul University College of Law; Dr. Holly Cheever, a veterinarian who has witnessed conditions at foie gras farms; Gene Baur (formerly Bauston), president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary; and Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The Humane Society of the United States.

According to a statement released by Professor Martha Nussbaum, renowned legal and ethics scholar from the University of Chicago School of Law, "[The foie gras ban] is comparable to bans on the sale of products produced from endangered species and the sale of dog or cat pelts, and is consistent with this city's civility and ethics. Indeed, the elimination of support for practices that are cruel to animals has long been accepted as a mainstream value of civilized societies, which recognize not only the virtue of compassion towards animals, but a duty to refrain from, inhibit, and punish acts that cause unnecessary suffering. By passing this ordinance, Chicago gains status and respect in the world community, and is known as a city that affirms the highest ethical values."

Francis Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago, and head of the Chicago Archdiocese, was entirely sympathetic to the sentiments expressed by Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict concerning animal cruelty, specifying the brutality and inhumanity of foie gras and other abusive factory farming practices. Cardinal George has expressed his full support for the Chicago foie gras ban.

Said Gene Baur (formerly Bauston), president of Farm Sanctuary, "The Chicago City Council voted to end animal cruelty. To turn back now would be a disservice to compassionate Chicago citizens and the animals this humane ordinance protects. The Aldermen should stand by their original votes and reject the effort to permit such egregious animal cruelty."

"The more than 65,000 Chicagoans who count themselves as members and supporters of The Humane Society of the United States couldn't be prouder of the city's foie gras ordinance," stated Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The HSUS. "Repealing this humane law would be just as tough to swallow as the cruel force-feeding of ducks and geese."

Additional information about foie gras, legislation banning its sale or production, as well as a list of restaurants and retail establishments-including more than 200 in Illinois-that have pledged to not serve the product, can be found at www.NoFoieGras.org.

About The Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with nearly 10 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, animals in research, equine protection and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The nonprofit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the web at hsus.org.

About Farm Sanctuary
Farm Sanctuary is the nation's leading farm animal protection organization. Since incorporating in 1986, Farm Sanctuary has worked to expose and stop cruel practices of the "food animal" industry through research and investigations, legal and institutional reforms, public awareness projects, youth education, and direct rescue and refuge efforts. Farm Sanctuary shelters in Watkins Glen, N.Y., and Orland, Calif., provide lifelong care for hundreds of rescued animals, who have become ambassadors for farm animals everywhere by educating visitors about the realities of factory farming. Additional information can be found at www.farmsanctuary.org or by calling 607-583-2225.