Two New York foie gras producers and the state Department of Agriculture and Markets are being sued by the California-based Animal Legal Defense Fund (ADLF) for what it contends is force-feeding of ducks and geese to produce fattened livers.

The lawsuit alleges that in the last weeks of their lives the ducks and geese are force-fed so the birds' livers will grow to 10 times their normal size. ADLF's attorney Jonathan G. Schopf claims this induces hepatic lipidosis, a liver disease that violates a state agriculture law that requires that "the product of a diseased animal" be declared an adulterated food and banned.

“When the department fails to condemn diseased poultry products, they are failing to comply with (the law),” said Stephen Wells, executive director of ALDF, in a statement announcing the suit. “Countless birds are suffering because of the state of New York’s negligence.”

In addition to the state agency, the suit names Hudson Valley Foie Gras and La Belle Farm, the only commercial foie gras producers in the country since California's ban on the production and sale of foie gras went into effect this summer.

According to news reports, a similar suit, also filed against the same farms and the agriculture department by the national Humane Society, was dismissed in 2008 by state Supreme Court Justice John Egan Jr. on the grounds that the Humane Society did not have standing to sue on behalf of animals raised for food. Schopf claims his legal strategy is different in that "By approving force-fed foie gras for human consumption and allowing it to remain in the marketplace, State respondents have injured [consumers'] interests by causing [them] to consume diseased, dangerous and illegally manufactured products."

Hudson Valley Foie Gras, which calls itself “the humane choice,” says its ducks are healthy and do not suffer.

—Source:  timesunion.com (New York)