In a shameless publicity stunt, Burger King have announced that they will sell a burger that contains foie-gras in a few select London outlets. The reality is that they will probably sell very few - if any - but it is fundamentally wrong that this company (which is already responsible for the deaths of countless animals each year by selling burgers) is using 'torture in a tin' to raise its profile.
Please send Burger King a polite email to this address (the PR company who dreamed up this stunt): burgerking@cowpr.com
You can also phone Burger King's customer care line on 0845 728 7437 or write to them at:
Customer Careline
BurgerKing Limited
Lakeside House
1 Furzeground Way
Stockley Park East
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB11 1BD
Letter
Dear Sir/Madam
We were very disappointed that Burger King were considering selling a burger containing foie-gras – and we respectfully ask that you desist from this plan.
Foie-gras is the grossly enlarged liver of a duck or goose and is essentially a disease, marketed as a delicacy. Birds raised for this ‘gourmet’ cruelty are force-fed enormous quantities of food through a long metal pipe, three times a day. This process of deliberate and painful overfeeding continues for up to a month by which time the birds’ livers have swelled to ten times their normal size. Force feeding results in the premature deaths of around 1 million birds in France every year.
Foie-gras is not produced in Britain, as the Government has made it clear that its production would contravene existing animal welfare regulations, but sadly it is still perfectly legal to import it. Even the previous Government minister responsible for animal welfare, Ben Bradshaw, encouraged a consumer boycott. Its production has been outlawed in Poland, Denmark, Germany, Norway and Israel. Supermarket chain Lidl removed foie-gras after animal campaigning group Viva! contacted them and detailed the cruelty behind its production – wholesalers Makro quickly followed suit. Renowned department stores House of Fraser, Harvey Nichols and Fortnum & Mason banned foie-gras on ethical grounds. Recently, London Mayor Ken Livingstone joined with Prince Charles to condemn foie-gras.
You can find more information on the cruelty involved in the production of foie-gras by watching Viva!'s on-line film here: www. viva. org. uk/foiegras.
You can also read the group's fully referenced fact sheet at: http://www. viva. org. uk/campaigns/foiegras/factsheet. html.
I hope that they will help you reach the decision to join the growing number of businesses throughout the UK that have pledged to go foie-gras free.
Yours faithfully
Source: Viva
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