Does force feeding really create suffering?

By Published On: 23 March 2009Last Updated: 17 January 2017

I am constantly amazed how inhumane behavior towards animals is compared to how humans treat each other.

What's in this post

I don’t even know where to start with this one.

This blog caught my attention this morning on popular gossip site.  I saw Foie Gras and had to click on it.  Ya’ll know about foie gras right?  Well, if you don’t, foie gras is french for “fatty liver”.  It is the liver of ducks and geese.  Wanna know how it’s made?

From www.goveg.com:

“The birds are kept in tiny wire cages or packed into sheds. Pipes are repeatedly shoved down the birds’ throats, and up to 4 pounds of grain and fat are pumped into their stomachs two or three times every day. The pipes puncture many birds’ throats, sometimes causing the animals to bleed to death. This cruel procedure causes the birds’ livers to become diseased and swell to up to 10 times their normal size. Many birds become too sick to stand up. The birds who survive the force-feeding are killed, and their livers are sold for foie gras.”

Yummy right?  So, I clicked on the “Whose Liver Should We Cook Instead-Duyba’s?”.  The article starts out with a great quote by Russell Simmons (who fucking rocks by the way) and then progresses into a snippet of how awful foie gras is.  And then, well it isn’t E!’s fault, but then I read this comment on the article.

I kid you not.  This is an actual comment (not altered in any way):

“Since the goose will be killed anyway (the French eat a lot more than the liver of fowl), do we know that thes animals suffer from the force feeding? I personally think that eating contests where people gorge themselves on various foods are disgusting but I respect their right to risk their health if they so choose. As for the nailing the foot down-I doubt that this is a common practice. I’ve been to France but didn’t eat foie gras or snails, but not based on great love of geese. Those suckers are big and can be pretty mean too! I’m always amazed that people are ready to kill other humans but want to protect a duck. That’s pretty sick too.”

“Since the goose will be killed anyway…”!  What, because geese are just here for humans to kill?  They have no rights to life?  I am constantly amazed how inhumane behavior towards animals is compared to how humans treat each other.  There are differences in the way that animals treat humans versus the way that humans treat animals.  But that isn’t even the point.  The human abuses animals AND each other.  One is not better or worse than the other.  They are both reprehensible acts that prove over and over again that the human is cruel.

I ask you again – are we the superior species?

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HELLO! I'm KD Angle-Traegner.

Writer, activist, and founder of Four Urban Paws Sanctuary. I’m on a mission to help people live a vegan life. Read more about KD…

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