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Restaurant Accuses Activists of Blackmail

September 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment


The News

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 - Foie Gras

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

Your Turn

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.


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