Get the Diseased Livers of Tortured Birds off the Menu, Says Group
For Immediate Release:
May 23, 2012
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
New York -- A representative of PETA, which owns stock in Wendy's, will confront the restaurant chain's executives at the company's annual meeting in New York on Thursday with a pointed question: Why does Wendy's sell cruelly obtained and universally condemned foie gras at its restaurants in Japan? Although foie gras production involves force-feeding ducks and geese through pipes shoved down the birds' throats, causing their livers to become enlarged and infected, Wendy's website states, "[W]e are [sic] take our role as a responsible corporate citizen very seriously, which includes the humane treatment of animals."
When: Thursday, May 24, 10 a.m.
Where: W New York, 541 Lexington Ave., New York
"Forcing huge quantities of fat and grain down the throats of birds until their organs become diseased is something straight out of the Dark Ages," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Shareholders who would never dream of eating the livers of tortured birds would be outraged to learn that Wendy's is pushing foie gras in other countries."
In foie gras production, pipes are shoved down the birds' throats, and up to 4 pounds of grain and fat are pumped into the animals' stomachs two or three times a day. The birds' livers become diseased and swell to up to 10 times their normal size. The pipes puncture many birds' throats, causing some animals to bleed to death.
California has banned the sale and production of foie gras (effective in July), and foie gras production has been outlawed in more than a dozen countries, including Australia, Germany, Israel, and the U.K. Also, numerous national and regional grocery stores refuse to carry the product. World-renowned chefs Wolfgang Puck and Charlie Trotter removed foie gras from their menus because of the cruelty inherent in its production, and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has denounced foie gras production as a violation of biblical principles.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.