Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Pinoy stars join protest v. foie gras production
WHAT do top model Isabel Roces, actor and Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. and comedian and cover girl Rufa Mae Quinto have in common?
They -- along with actress and singer Yasmien Kurdi and veteran actor Eddie Gutierrez -- have all signed People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) Asia-Pacific's pledge never to eat or buy foie gras and to encourage their millions of fans to do the same.
Why? Because foie gras is the enlarged, diseased liver of ducks and geese who are painfully -- and often fatally -- force-fed using pipes that are plunged down their throats up to three times per day. Other movie performers who have signed the pledge include Arci Munoz, Alicia Mayer and K Brosas; models Corey Wills, Raya Mananquil and Bianca Valerio; and Jack TV's The Peep Show host Karen "Dylan" Vizcarra.
Foie gras is made from the livers of ducks and geese who are force-fed and develop a painful liver disease.
Foie gras farms in the US, Europe and Canada have documented sick, dead, and dying animals. Some animals had holes in their necks from pipe injuries. Dead birds were dangling from wires as bloods pilled from their neck wounds onto the live birds beneath them.
"Force-feeding birds until their organs explode is one of the most violent forms of cruelty to animals on factory farms today," said crusade manager Rochelle Regodon.
"All Filipinos can protect ducks and geese from this torture simply by refusing to buy or eat foie gras," Regodon said.
Foie gras has been banned in 15 countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, and Switzerland, as well as in the US in the state of California and the City of Chicago.
Pope Benedict XVI once referred to foie gras production as the "degrading of living creatures to a commodity" and added that it "contradict(s) the relationship of mutuality that comes across in the Bible."
For more information and to sign the pledge, visit PETAAsiaPacific.com. (Press release)
