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A well-known restaurant in England that accused animal-rights activists of blackmail for protesting its sale of foie gras has taken the “delicacy of despair” off the menu.

The owner of the Bricklayers Arms stands by his right to sell foie gras based on “the laws of supply and demand,” but he will no longer serve it because of the “hatred that has been directed at the pub via social media, email and phone calls” and a six person protest in front of the restaurant on Saturday.

Photo: hemeltoday.co.uk

Hertfordshire Animal Rights, which organized the campaign, thanked the owner for removing foie gras in spite of the fact that he is unwilling to acknowledge that force feeding ducks and geese through a tube inserted down their throats until their livers expand to 10 times their natural size is reason alone to take it off the menu.

Author Margaret Meade once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” The success of Hertfordshire Animal Rights’ anti-foie gras campaign gives credence to these words of wisdom which have inspired and galvanized activists to fight for the animals, even in the toughest of circumstances.

The owner of a famous U.K. restaurant that serves foie gras is accusing activists of engaging in blackmail in their attempts to pressure him into taking it off the menu. Alvin Michaels says the group Hertfordshire Animal Rights “has pursued the Bricklayers Arms through a negative campaign on social media, threatening phone calls and demonstrations.” Mr. Michaels defends the sale of foie gras, saying his food is “lovingly sourced” and that other restaurants serve it too. He also invokes the “law of supply and demand.”

By saying that the “cruelty is debatable,” Mr. Michael’s indvertently acknowledges that force-feeding an animal by inserting a tube down his or her esophagus might be inhumane. He also says, “For every study that says it is harmful to feed waterfowl through tube-feeding, there seems to be equal evidence that states that it isn’t.”

Bricklayers Arms Pub (Photo: hemeltoday.co.uk)

In this video about foie gras production, British actress Kate Winslet says, “Foie gras is sold as an expensive delicacy, but no one pays a higher price than the ducks and geese who are abused and killed to make it.” Please share this video on social media and ask the Bricklayers Arms to take this “delicacy of despair” of the menu for good.

Lawmakers in a French National Assembly committee voted to officially change the legal status of animals from “personal property” to “sentient living being.”  The law still must pass the full Assembly and Senate.  The current law states that animals have no more rights than objects.  The 30 Million Friends Foundation collected 700,000 signatures to petition for the change. A recent poll found that 89 percent of the country approves of the change.  Since 2009, the European Union governing body has officially considered animals sentient beings under the Lisbon Treaty, but many national governments have not yet updated their laws.

Foie Gras: Product of Terroir (the land) or Product of Terror?

If animals are reclassified as “sentient living beings,” will their circumstances improve?  Foie gras (fatty liver of ducks or geese), a staple in the French diet, is so cruelly produced that it is described by activists as a “delicacy of despair.”   Is this change merely symbolic (which is better than nothing, I suppose) or will regulations be changed in animal enterprises that will actually require the businesses to treat them as living beings instead of inanimate objects?