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Senate
Bill 1520 would ban
the production and sale
of foie gras in California;
hearing is June 18,
2004
Animal
rights bill targets
small farmer and upscale
restaurants
California Senator Burton
introduced SB
1520, a bill to
ban the production and
sale of foie gras in
the state, at the behest
of animal rights activists
who claim that production
of this duck liver delicacy
is cruel and abusive.
The
bill legitimizes the
despicable
campaign to shut down
Sonoma Foie Gras,
the state's only foie
gras producer. Guillermo
Gonzalez, the owner
of the farm and part
owner of a bistro that
includes gourmet duck
meals on the menu, refused
to cave in to intimidation
and criminal actions
by terrorists who raided
his farm, stole his
ducks, vandalized the
restaurant, and terrorized
his partners and their
families. When bullying
failed, they opened
a legislative front
against Gonzalez by
proposing and promoting
this bill.
Proponents
of this bill are militant
activists who believe
that all livestock farming
must be eliminated.
To this end, they attempt
to eradicate businesses
that have a limited
customer base and is
therefore vulnerable
to attack. The
National Animal Interest
Alliance opposes these
efforts and urges
those who agree to write
letters in opposition
to SB 1520.
Time
is critical. The bill
passed the California
Senate and will be heard
in the Assembly Business
and Professions Committee
on Friday, June 18.
Letters should be written
to the committee members
specified below. The
following points should
be addressed:
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SB1520 is based on false
assumptions that managed
feeding of ducks is
cruel. The process actually
takes a few seconds
to complete and mimics
the natural gorging
that allows ducks to
store fat in their liver
for use during long
migrations.
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Studies show that the
process is not painful.
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The ducks at Sonoma
Foie Gras have been
inspected by California
authorities and by poultry
science experts and
found to be in good
condition.
-
Laws should not be used
to achieve agendas that
are supported by distortions
of truth or by criminal
activity.
Passage
of this law would validate
the use of criminal
tactics to achieve social
goals and encourage
activist groups to escalate
the use of violence,
theft, threats, intimidation,
and vandalism in their
war against livestock
agriculture and other
animal interests. Animal
agriculture should be
governed by science
and animal welfare concerns,
not by radical agendas
proffered by those who
would end animal ownership
and abolish the use
of animal products.
The Business and Professions Committee will hear the bill on June 18. Letters should be faxed if possible and a copy should go to your own assemblyman if he’s not on the committee. If you don’t have time to write, call the members of the committee and your own assemblyman. E-mails are good for follow-up but should not be the primary method of stating your opposition. Committee members are:
Assembly
Member Lou Correa, Chair
Fax: (916) 319-2169
Email: Assemblymember.Correa@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Shirley Horton,
Vice Chair
Fax: (916) 319-2178
Email: Assemblymember.Shirley.Horton@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Bill Maze
Fax: (916) 319-2134
Email: Assemblymember.Maze@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Greg Aghazarian
Fax: (916) 319-2126
Email: Assemblymember.Aghazarian@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Abel Maldonado
Fax: (916) 319-2133
Email: Assemblymember.maldonado@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Gloria Negrete
McLeod
Fax: (916) 319-2161
Email: Assemblymember.McLeod@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Juan Vargas
Fax: (916) 319-2179
Email: Assemblymember.Vargas@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Mark Leno
Fax: (916) 319-2113
Assembly
Member Rudy Bermudez
Fax: (916) 319-2156
Email: Assemblymember.bermudez@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly Member Leland
Yee
Fax: (916) 319-2112
Email: Assemblymember.yee@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Joe Nation
Fax: (916) 319-2106
Email: Joe.Nation@asm.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Ellen Corbett
Fax: (916) 319-2118
Email: Assemblymember.Corbett@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Paul Koretz
Fax: (916) 319-2142
Email: Assemblymember.Koretz@assembly.ca.gov
Letter
sent to Assembly Member
Lou Correa, Chair, FROM
NAIA
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