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Appellate court upholds California foie gras ban

September 2, 2013

foieA federal appellate court upheld California’s ban on the sale of foie gras last week. [LA Times]

Foie gras is fatty liver produced by the force-feeding of birds, typically ducks or geese.

California banned the force-feeding of birds to fatten the liver, as well as the sale of foie gras. The ban took effect on July 1, 2012.

Following the ban, out of state foie gras producers and a California restaurant group challenged the law in court, claiming it was unconstitutionally vague and it regulated interstate commerce.

On Friday, a three-judge panel of U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appels upheld a district judge’s refusal to block the law, stating that it was constitutional.

The law applies to both “California entities and out-of-state entities and precludes sales within California of products produced by force feeding birds, regardless of where the force feeding occurred,” the panel wrote. “Otherwise, California entities could obtain foie gras produced out of state and sell it in California.”

The panel added that California clearly banned the sale of foie gras to “prevent complicity in a practice that it deemed cruel to animals.”

 


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A fatty liver from any animal does not sound appetizing. If you’re intent is to raise your cholesterol and clog your arteries, then just eat a fast-food hamburger and get over it.


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may as well eat an oil filter from a Mack truck


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Exactly! Why do we have to tell others how to live? I know, I know: because when they’re sick, we all foot the bill. Well, guess what? We do that anyway, better to let them die off in bliss if that’s what they want.


It’s like the helmet laws: sure, for minors, make it a law to help alleviate stupid parents, but if you’re in a mid-life crisis and doing the “Harley thing” and want to freestyle it, that’s your business. If you crash and break your head open, go for it. Maybe if you live through it, you’ll tell others not to be as stupid as you were. But it is still your right to be a fool.


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Yeah, we need to not be cruel to the animals we slaughter and slice up… and cook and eat. It’s not nice to feed them too much before we take a cleaver to their neck… or bolt gun… or whatever.


If butchering is cruel, then be a vegetarian or vegan. Go for it. Heck, join PETA and stand by your principals. But please, let those of us who can stomach the kill floor our choice of proteins.


I don’t eat Foie Gras, nor have ever (I don’t believe in eating the filter…) but I surely have no business telling someone else that they cannot if that is what they choose. I do not tell vegans to stop butchering vegetation for their consumption. Why would I?


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Meant “principles” obviously. Though, we should also stand with our principals (especially if they are not duped by the common core fiasco that is poisoning education).


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Perhaps a closer look at the animal welfare with regards to veal should be taken by the courts. while some progress has been made since the 80’s, it’s still rather appalling as to how these animals are treated.


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Ya, but it’s perfectly OK to force feed cattle corn, something they would never eat naturally and makes them sick necessitating medications to keep them from succumbing to diarrhea. And it’s perfectly OK to feed horse meat to your dog, just don’t put any on the BBQ. But Oh my heavens! Don”t even think about making a duck overeat. California on the cutting edge of lunacy.


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Doesn’t make any sense. There are animal feeding techniques used all the time to fatten up the animal for more tender meat. What about the poor chickens that have their unborn chicks taken away …

I can see the headline now California the first Vegan State..


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it’s coming to that and you will be taxed to pay for it.


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such an important issue


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