Sonoma, Calif. — In the ongoing court battle between California’s lone foie gras producer and animal protection advocates, Sonoma Foie Gras has agreed to pay $21,000 in attorney fees for wrongfully suing In Defense of Animals (IDA) for trespass. The company is also dropping its trespass lawsuit against four Animal Protection & Rescue League (APRL) members who entered the farm several times between 2002 and 2003 to document conditions there.

After APRL exposed the extreme cruelty to ducks force-fed for foie gras—and rescued some of the ducks in the worst condition—Sonoma Foie Gras filed a lawsuit against both APRL and IDA for disseminating the photos and video. In January, Sonoma Superior Court Judge Allan Hardcastle signed an order that the APRL activists’ documenting animal cruelty by going onto farm property and distributing the images obtained was in furtherance of free speech for purposes of California’s anti-SLAPP statute. The judge also determined that Sonoma Foie Gras had no evidence that IDA was involved in the alleged trespass.

“It is critical that courts not allow companies such as Sonoma Foie Gras to sue whomever they wish without supporting evidence, simply in an attempt to stop organizations like IDA from informing consumers of the cruelty that goes on behind the closed doors of factory farms,” states Elliot M. Katz, DVM, president and founder of IDA. “The graphic footage that was captured by the undercover investigators was a critical factor in Governor Schwarzenegger’s signing of SB1520 into law. Consumers have a right to know how the food they eat is produced.”

The investigation of Sonoma Foie Gras—one of the only two foie gras producing farms in the U.S.—revealed ducks crammed into filthy, feces-ridden sheds. Barrels full of dead ducks who choked or suffered organ rupture during the traumatic force-feeding process were discovered. Investigators rescued several ducks from the facility, including two who were being eaten alive by rats. Their crippling injuries prevented them from defending themselves.

At least fifteen nations have banned force-feeding because of its inherent cruelty, and fewer than ten nations currently produce foie gras. In September 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger signed SB1520 to ban foie gras production and sale in the state of California, effective 2012. Bills are pending in Illinois, New York, Oregon and Massachusetts to ban foie gras.

The footage of animal cruelty that Sonoma Foie Gras attempted to suppress is available upon request. For more information on IDA and APRL’s campaign, visit StopForceFeeding.com.

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