Nick of Time

Hugs for Puppies director Nick Cooney speaks out on foie gras.

by David Snyder

interview

Editor's Note: City Paper contributor David Snyder, who last wrote about visiting Hudson Valley Foie Gras farm in upstate New York [Food, "Liver Let Die," July 5, 2007], arranged an interview with Nick Cooney, director of anti-foie gras group Hugs for Puppies, for that piece. Cooney, however, missed the scheduled meeting due to being in jail for a prior action connected to the protest of animal testing. (All charges were later dropped.) Snyder recently caught up with Cooney to get his thoughts on London Grill co-owner Terry McNally's characterization of Hugs for Puppies' tactics and Snyder's experience at Hudson Valley.

City Paper: What's your response to McNally's negative depiction of the foie gras protesters' conduct?

Nick Cooney: It's a classic "shoot the messenger" argument. Instead of directly responding and focusing most of their response on the ethical, human health and environmental issues at hand, they focus on the protesters. In the two years that our foie gras campaign has been going on, no one has ever been ticketed for any sort of violation of the law and we notify the police department before every single protest that we have. So for her to try to besmirch our reputation, I think, is a "shoot the messenger"-style response to avoid or divert from the argument at hand.

CP: What's the basis for your position that gavage, the process of hand-feeding birds to produce foie gras, is inhumane?

NC: Number one, I've been on foie gras farms and I've seen for myself the conditions there, including at Hudson Valley. Number two, I have a friend who recently completed a two-month investigation of a foie gras farm in Canada, which is currently all over the media there. Number three, seeing photos and video online of other investigations of Hudson Valley and other foie gras farms.

CP: Is it fair to condemn the entire foie gras industry based on these videos?

NC: I think that there have been so many investigations of so many separate foie gras farms, it makes it clear that it's not one particular farm that has the problem. It's endemic to the industry. The force-feeding process itself is something that's going to be uniform across the board. And that process itself, in my opinion, certainly is extremely cruel to the animals.

CP: When did you visit Hudson Valley? What did you witness? Did you see the feeding process?

NC: I [was] there a little less than a year ago. Obviously, some of the birds are in better shape than others, but there was definitely a significant percentage that were in very bad shape. Not a pretty picture. I did not witness the feeding process at Hudson Valley. I simply saw the aftereffects of it.

CP: Did you sneak onto the farm?

NC: I did not take the prearranged tour.

CP: The feeding process I saw at Hudson Valley differed from what I've seen in activist videos. Doesn't this illustrate that the process is not uniform?

NC: There are varying levels of cruelty, yes. But it's my position that while they may not be the cruelest of foie gras farms, what's going on there is still cruel. Restaurant owners in Philadelphia and elsewhere should make the ethical decision to not support that.

CP: Hudson Valley uses what are considered to be "artisanal" feeding techniques, not the factory techniques featured on activists' videos. Is there any room in your philosophy to accept artisanal foie gras production?

NC: I think that the word "artisanal" is a buzz word that the foie gras industry has started using to paint a quaint picture of foie gras farming. Very few members of the public would regard taking a metal pipe, jamming it down the throat of an animal and then pumping food into the animal's stomach an artistic activity.

CP: Anything else you'd like to add?

NC: There are 34 restaurants that have stopped serving foie gras [in Philadelphia]. The majority of those are the result of meetings with us and some on their own decision because it's cruel. I think that's very significant.

(editorial@citypaper.net)