Pop Goes The News — Canadian star Pamela Anderson took her campaign against foie gras to the floor of France’s parliament on Tuesday.
The 48-year-old animal rights advocate spoke to politicians in support of a Bill to ban the force-feeding of ducks and geese to produce the liver delicacy.
“As a Canadian I am ashamed of the brutal clubbing of baby seals and thus I have empathy for the many French citizens who also experience both shame and sadness at the misery suffered by these very sociable birds,” Anderson said.
“We need to evolve beyond barbarism and ignorance and to be blunt: foie gras is simply a diseased liver and that disease is called hepatic steatosis or fat liver disease.”
Anderson said ducks and geese suffer pain and diarrhea, inflammations and injuries before being slaughtered.
The B.C. native was invited to speak at the National Assembly by Laurence Abeille, a member of the Europe Écologie – Les Verts party.
While polls suggest a majority of French citizens are opposed to force-feeding ducks and geese, the Bill does not have a lot of support among politicians.
France produces about 75 per cent of the global supply of foie gras. The industry is currently struggling due to a production stoppage caused by the spread of bird flu.
In Canada, foie gras production is based in Québec.
“High in fat, riddled with antibiotics and oozing toxins, foie gras is not a natural food and certainly not a healthy food,” Anderson opined.
“I would like to respectfully request that France embrace the qualities of compassion, empathy and respect for the lives of animals.
“I would like to call on the French deputies to abolish force-feeding and I call on the French people to no longer eat foie gras.”
Anderson has the support of another former bombshell.
“Foie gras is not a symbol of festivity, but a symbol of death,” said 81-year-old Brigitte Bardot in a statement from her home in St. Tropez, “and force-feeding is an absolutely outrageous barbarity.”
File photo of Pamela Anderson by John R. Kennedy / Pop Goes The News.