The document discusses arguments on both sides of the debate around foie gras production. Proponents argue that the force feeding process causes little stress or harm to ducks and geese, takes only a few seconds each day, and is necessary for high quality foie gras. However, opponents counter that the metal tube leaves birds' throats irritated, the birds show signs of disliking the process, and mortality rates are higher during force feeding. Critics argue the practice causes unnecessary suffering and should be banned.

3. The American Veterinary Medical Association stated that “the observations and practical experience shared by [House of Delegates] members indicate a minimum of adverse effects on the birds involved.”

4. One delegate who witnessed the procedure argued that tube feeding is less distressing than taking the rectal temperature of a cat.

5. Another delegate noted that medicating and feeding sick birds via tube was a normal practice that birds accepted without stress.

6. Another delegate who toured the farms stated that the birds appeared to be well cared for and better off than other poultry raised in factory farming.

7. New York Times editor Lawrence Downes visited a farm and "saw no pain or panic...The birds submitted matter-of-factly to a 15-inch tube inserted down the throat for about three seconds, delivering about a cup of corn pellets. The practice...seemed neither particularly gentle nor particularly rough."

9. The geese show signs of disliking the feeding and the person who does it

10. Geese die at a rate of 2-4% during the force-feeding rather than .2% otherwise because of increased infections

12. The American Veterinary Medical Association has been criticized for defending the economic interests of agribusiness over animal welfare

13. Dr. Ward Stone, wildlife pathologist with the NYSDEC and Adjunct Professor at SUNY, wrote that "...the short tortured lives of ducks raised for Foie Gras is well outside the norm of farm practice. Having seen the pathology that occurs from Foie Gras production, I strongly recommend that this practice be outlawed."

14. The California Health and Safety Code includes a provision that will come into effect in 2012 that bans the "force feed[ing of] a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird's liver beyond normal size.”