Breaking! The Last Foie Gras Farm In The Ukraine Will Close Down By Early September 2019

Photo Credit: Farm Sanctuary

The only remaining foie gras farm in the Ukraine is shutting down in little more than a month.

MHP, the parent company of an international agro-industrial group with headquarters in Ukraine, posted a statement to its website yesterday confirming that it will “cease production of goose meat and foie gras at its Snyatynska poultry farm by the beginning of September 2019.”

The company, which reportedly sold 50,000 tons of foie gras in 2018, has now decided that the production of the “food” is not consistent with the MHP’s strategy and policy on animal welfare.

The move to shut down the production of foie gras, which is made from the fatty liver of engorged ducks and geese after they are brutally force-fed with tubes shoved down their throats, follows the release earlier this year of undercover footage obtained by animal protection organization Open Cages.

“In April, we published undercover footage taken by a worker on a foie gras farm in Ukraine. It was and is the only foie gras farm in Ukraine. The horrific footage was met with outrage worldwide as we launched campaigns in the UK, Ukraine, Denmark and more,” the organization shared in a post on its Facebook page. “Following strings of UK restaurants dropping foie gras and videos garnering millions of views on social media, the farm yesterday announced that they will CLOSE DOWN by the beginning of September. This means that in September, Ukraine will have ended all foie gras production.”

The news follows the landmark decision of the United States in January of this year to also ban the sale of foie gras. Other countries with similar bans include: Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K.

You can help all animals by choosing compassion on your plate. #GoVeg