Video: Mark Rylance Calls Out Foie Gras Cruelty
In PETA’s new video, Oscar winner Sir Mark Rylance talks Christmas dinner – but all is not as it seems …
In the video, which urges the public to leave foie gras off their plates this Christmas, Mark describes a festive family gathering.
But his words take on a sinister double meaning when they’re juxtaposed over video footage – provided by Belgian animal protection group GAIA – of workers ramming metal tubes down birds’ throats:
“Just one more bite. Oh, come on – it’s Christmas. Afterwards, we can take a little nap to let our food digest and then, eat some more delicious food.”
Mark previously appeared in a campaign for PETA urging people to steer clear of bear shows. He’s part of a long list of British icons – including Ralph Fiennes, Ricky Gervais, Dame Vera Lynn, Twiggy, Kate Winslet, and the late Sir Roger Moore – who have joined PETA’s campaign against foie gras.
What’s Wrong With Foie Gras?
To produce foie gras, ducks and geese are force-fed several times a day until their livers become diseased and swollen.
By the end of their lives, many birds have trouble breathing because their enlarged livers compress their lungs. PETA has released exposés of foie gras farms that show sick, dead, and dying birds, some of whom had holes in their necks from being impaled by the feeding pipes.
Foie gras production is so inhumane that it illegal in the UK and more than a dozen other countries.
What You Can Do
Awareness of the cruelty involved in foie gras production is growing, and an increasing number of chefs and retailers now refuse to sell it. But we still have work to do – the prolonged suffering of ducks and geese won’t stop until foie gras becomes history.
PETA will keep campaigning against the “torture in a tin” until it’s banished from the UK, and you can help. Here’s what to do if you see foie gras on a menu or in a shop:
