Pro-Animal.
Pro-Colorado.
Denver is Standing Up to Cruel Force-Feeding.
It’s time to end foie gras production and sales in our city.
Force-feeding is a brutal practice that causes suffering to millions of birds, all for an expensive dish served at fancy restaurants.
In recent polling, 75% of Denver voters said they found the animal cruelty involved in foie gras production to be a convincing reason to support ending the practice of force feeding.
The Ballot Initiative
Pro-Animal Colorado is leading a citizen-initiated ballot measure to prohibit the force-feeding of birds and the sale of products made with force-feeding (including foie gras) in the City of Denver.
We’re a team of passionate volunteers working to collect the required 15,000 signatures from voters that we need by the end of 2025. Our goal is to put this initiative on Denver’s 2026 ballot.
How is Foie Gras Made?
Foie gras, French for “fatty liver”, is produced by force-feeding ducks and geese until their livers become diseased and enlarged up to 10 times their normal, healthy size.
Force-feeding typically involves shoving thick, foot-long metal or plastic pipes down birds’ throats multiple times a day to pump large amounts of food directly into their stomachs over a period of weeks.
This process can cause painful punctures in birds’ beaks and throats, respiratory distress and suffocation, and difficulty walking as they become too heavy for their legs to hold them. Mortality rates are up to 19X higher than non-force-fed birds.
We can all agree that animals should be able to live natural and healthy lives. This measure addresses an urgent ethical concern without impacting the average consumer.
By challenging a cruel practice that harms many while benefiting few, Denver can take a principled stand without overreaching. Denver has a proud tradition of showing leadership on ethical issues, and this measure reflects our values as a city.
GET THE FACTS
40 million ducks and geese
are force-fed worldwide each year for foie gras production.
3 pounds
the average weight of a diseased foie gras liver.
Livers of healthy ducks and geese weigh about 1/10 of this.
1.5 million gallons
of wastewater produced by U.S. foie gras operations.
Waste runoff contains high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, which fuel the growth of harmful algal blooms and oceanic dead zones.
20+ countries
have passed legislation restricting the sales of force-fed fatty liver.
Similar laws have also been passed in California, NYC, and Pittsburgh.
“The process of force feeding birds in order to deliberately induce a disease state is patently inhumane, causing severe physical pain and psychological distress.”
— Dr. Lee Scrader, DVM
Cruelty Has No Place in Denver.
Denver residents care about injustice. The majority of us believe that force-feeding ducks and geese is unnecessarily cruel and should be stopped. It’s time to demand our government take action and protect animals.
There are at least 15 Denver restaurants that still serve foie gras made from force-fed animals. As it’s just one item on the menu, there is no evidence that this policy would force any Denver businesses to close down or relocate. New York City and Pittsburgh passed legislation prohibiting the sale of foie gras and not a single restaurant or grocery store has gone out of business as a result.
Foie gras is not a culinary staple, it’s an expensive, ‘luxury’ product that causes unnecessary suffering to ducks. Join us in supporting this common-sense measure to protect the animals under our care.