Foie gras factory footage of suffocated ducklings is revealed

Grim undercover footage shows thousands of ducklings being force-fed or left to suffocate in bins in a French foie gras factory

  • Whistleblower secretly filmed conditions at the Domaine de la Peyrouse factory
  • Female ducklings are tossed alive into vast bins and left to starve or suffocate
  • The males have their beaks mutilated before being force-fed for 12 days   
  • WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT 

Gruesome footage from a French foie gras factory shows thousands of ducklings being thrown into bins and left to starve or suffocate to death.

Others have their beaks and claws mutilated before being force-fed in tiny cages to fatten their livers to make the expensive delicacy.

The footage was secretly filmed by a whistleblower at the award-winning Domaine de la Peyrouse factory in Coulounieix-Chamiers, on the outskirts of the Dordogne capital Perigueux.

A whistleblower secretly filmed thousands of ducklings being tossed in giant wheelie bins and left to starve or suffocate at Domaine de la Peyrouse factory in Dordogne

The footage was released by French animal rights organisation L214 which has called for foie gras production to be banned in France.

The distressing footage shows female ducklings, which can’t be used to make foie gras, being callously discarded and thrown alive into large wheelie bins and left to die.

Eggs that are thrown away often hatch in the bins but the ducklings are left to perish. 

Most either suffocate or starve to death.

Male ducklings have their beaks mutilated by a machine 'to limit injuries between birds'

Male ducklings have their beaks mutilated by a machine ‘to limit injuries between birds’

The male ducklings are force-fed by inserting pipes down their throats before being slaughtered

The male ducklings are force-fed by inserting pipes down their throats before being slaughtered

The factory is also a training facility connected to the Lycee Agricole de Perigueux - an agricultural high school that teaches students how to produce foie gras.

The factory is also a training facility connected to the Lycee Agricole de Perigueux – an agricultural high school that teaches students how to produce foie gras.

The male ducklings are force-fed by inserting pipes down their throats before being slaughtered. 

L214 spokesperson Barbara Boyer said the males have their heads jammed into a machine that ‘mutilates them by burning the end of their beaks, in order to limit injuries between birds.’ 

She added: ‘The forced cohabitation of hundreds or thousands of animals in most farms promotes aggressive behaviour.  

‘But instead of limiting the number of animals on the farms, people in the industry mutilate them by removing their claws and the tip of the beak.’

female ducklings, which can't be used to make foie gras, are callously thrown away and left to die.

female ducklings, which can’t be used to make foie gras, are callously thrown away and left to die.

She said the animals are force-fed for 10 to 12 days, a process that causes them to gasp for breath and gives them diarrhea.

The birds’ livers may become 6 to 10 times the normal size and stop working properly. 

Before they are slaughtered they are stunned by being dunked in electrified water.

They are then bled to death and have their livers removed. 

Eggs that were thrown away often hatch in the bins where the ducklings are left to perish

Eggs that were thrown away often hatch in the bins where the ducklings are left to perish

But the footage shows that some regain consciousness during the gruesome process and suffer an agonising death.

The factory is also a training facility connected to the Lycee Agricole de Perigueux – an agricultural high school that teaches students how to produce foie gras.  

It has won prestigious awards including the ‘Origine Certifiee Perigord’ and a gold medal at the Concours General Agricole in 2019, a competition established in 1870 by the French government. 

The male ducklings are force-fed for 10 to 12 days before being slaughtered

The male ducklings are force-fed for 10 to 12 days before being slaughtered

 

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