Animal protection council protects goose liver producers from protests

Hungary's Animal Protection Council (ATT) has slammed an animal rights group for triggering hundreds of job losses after leading a successful campaign against a company producing force-fed poultry, according to a statement ATT sent to MTI on Wednesday.

Hungerit, which produced fattened geese and ducks in Szentes (E), was closed down on September 1, having to lay off its nearly 200 employees, after coming under pressure from the campaign organised by the Four Paws Foundation.

Hungarian foie-gras - the liver of a fattened goose - is a sought-after delicacy around the world and is exported to France where connoisseurs prize its quality.

Attila Berey, ATT's head, said in a statement that the group's campaign has jeopardised tens of thousands of producers in a traditional industry.

ATT "agrees with exercising control over the conditions of force feeding animals," said Berey. He said animal rights groups should report violators of force feeding rules to the authorities rather than attacking a whole branch of agriculture.

Force feeding fowls with the right technology and "in a gentle way" poses "no more risk to the birds than any other farming practices," Berey noted. The official added that force feeding geese or ducks was not a criminal activity under Hungary's animal torture act.

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