An animal advocacy group has submitted more than 45,000 signatures for a D.C. ballot initiative that would ban the sale and distribution of foie gras.
The proposed ban targets a particular type of foie gras: duck livers fattened through force-feeding.
“That’s what makes this product uniquely cruel compared to the rest of the animal industry,” Anvar Ruziev, a spokesperson for Pro-Animal D.C., said.
“In this specific situation, there’s tubes shoved down their throat, and they’re pumped full of food.”
Because Initiative 86 specifically seeks to ban the sale of foie gras produced through force-feeding, livers from ducks that are not force-fed would still be available to restaurants and retailers, Ruziev said.
“Europe, I believe, is the only place where they do it currently without force-feeding the animals,” he said.
In , Bart Hutchins, the chef and owner of Capitol Hill restaurant Butterworth’s, defended the practice.
He argued that while the process of force feeding looks terrible, the duck’s esophagus is “desensitized” and that ducks in the wild gorge themselves before migration. Foie gras farming, he said, amplifies a natural biological process.
Meghan Abrego, who , was among the people working to make sure the ballot initiative gets before DC voters.
“Quacktivism is what I like to call it,” she told WTOP. Abrego said people should see ducks as pets and “to engage with them much like you would a dog or a cat.”
When it comes to the issue of foie gras, Abrego said, “There’s clearly a difference when it comes to you know, somebody gorging themselves like Patrick on Sponge Bob when he’s hungry, versus it actually being forced down your throat where you don’t have a choice.”
To get the anti-foie gras initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot, pro-animal D.C. had until July 6 to turn in at least 28,728 valid voter signatures. The D.C. Board of Elections has 30 days from the deadline to vet the signatures.
If the ballot initiative qualifies for the ballot and passes, it would take effect July 1, 2027.
Ruziev said pro-animal D.C. is considering other campaigns once this one is over.
“It’s not necessarily the foods that we target, it’s the factory farm practices,” he said.
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