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'Masked Duck' avenges birds
20/12/2007 20:15 - (SA)
Geneva - A Swiss speciality store was on Thursday raided by a hooded intruder who splashed paint to denounce the sale of foie gras - a delicacy produced from the liver of force-fed geese and ducks.
The fugitive, who burst through the front door and splattered a bucket of paint, was highlighting the "barbarian" methods of production for the festive favourite, the Swiss news agency ATS reported.
ATS said an email arrived shortly after the stunt with a group calling themselves "The Masked Ducks" claiming responsibility and demanding "the abolition of foie gras."
The authors were opposed to the force-feeding of "tens of millions of ducks and geese, tortured each year to garnish the plates of a barbaric cultural habit".
Foie gras has recently been withdrawn from sale at iconic London store Harvey Nichols, and banned in Chicago following studies indicating health concerns in the wake of avian flu and a campaign led by US actor Martin Sheen.
Switzerland's biggest online gastronomic retailer, LeShop.ch, the retail arm of the country's biggest distributor Migros, has also stopped selling force-fed duck and goose foie gras to German-speaking customers, following a survey showing outright opposition.
The company's French language wing, however, continues to offer the product online.
Said a spokesperson: "Despite its long-standing position at the head of menus, the methods of foie gras production are increasingly coming under fire from animal rights organisations."
Force-feeding is already banned in numerous European nations including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark, while a 1998 EU directive forbids the technique "if it results in suffering," according to the Manifesto for the Abolition of Foie Gras, a coalition of animal rights bodies.
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