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F1 HEIRESS INSPIRES TONY FERNANDES TO BAN FOIE GRAS FROM AIRASIA AND LOTUS RACING EVENTS
Airline CEO Responds to PETA Ambassador Tamara Ecclestone's Appeal on Behalf of Tortured Birds
Kuala Lumpur – Accomplished Formula 1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone – the daughter of Bernie Ecclestone – is forging ahead in her new role as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia's ambassador in the campaign against the cruel foie gras industry. Last month, Ecclestone wrote letters to Formula 1 team sponsors asking them to keep foie gras off the menu at all their events. Days before Malaysia's Formula 1 event, which is set to take place April 2 to 4, Tony Fernandes of Lotus Racing took her request to heart and one giant step beyond to include events for Malaysia's leading airline.
"Our lovely foie gras campaign ambassador saved two birds with one appeal when she wrote to Tony Fernandes", says PETA's Asia-Pacific director Jason Baker. "We are delighted that Lotus Racing and AirAsia will never again serve 'torture in a tin' at their events."
To make foie gras – French for "fatty liver" – workers use metal pipes to pump approximately 2 kilograms of a mixture of grain, maize and fat into the stomachs of ducks and geese several times per day. In human terms, that would be the equivalent of being forced to eat roughly 20 kilograms of pasta. As a result, birds' livers swell to up to 10 times their normal size, and the animals become sick and are often unable to move. The pipes often puncture birds' throats, and many animals bleed to death as a result. The bodies of force-fed birds who have died show heavy internal bleeding, fungal and bacterial infections and hepatic encephalopathy – a brain ailment caused by liver failure.
Foie gras production has been banned in 16 countries, including the UK, Germany and Israel. Pope Benedict has denounced the production of foie gras as cruel, and Sir Roger Moore narrated a graphic video showing the cruelty of foie gras production.
A copy of Ecclestone's letter to Tony Fernandes is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETAAsiaPacific.com.
Airline CEO Responds to PETA Ambassador Tamara Ecclestone's Appeal on Behalf of Tortured Birds
Kuala Lumpur – Accomplished Formula 1 heiress Tamara Ecclestone – the daughter of Bernie Ecclestone – is forging ahead in her new role as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Asia's ambassador in the campaign against the cruel foie gras industry. Last month, Ecclestone wrote letters to Formula 1 team sponsors asking them to keep foie gras off the menu at all their events. Days before Malaysia's Formula 1 event, which is set to take place April 2 to 4, Tony Fernandes of Lotus Racing took her request to heart and one giant step beyond to include events for Malaysia's leading airline.
"Our lovely foie gras campaign ambassador saved two birds with one appeal when she wrote to Tony Fernandes", says PETA's Asia-Pacific director Jason Baker. "We are delighted that Lotus Racing and AirAsia will never again serve 'torture in a tin' at their events."
To make foie gras – French for "fatty liver" – workers use metal pipes to pump approximately 2 kilograms of a mixture of grain, maize and fat into the stomachs of ducks and geese several times per day. In human terms, that would be the equivalent of being forced to eat roughly 20 kilograms of pasta. As a result, birds' livers swell to up to 10 times their normal size, and the animals become sick and are often unable to move. The pipes often puncture birds' throats, and many animals bleed to death as a result. The bodies of force-fed birds who have died show heavy internal bleeding, fungal and bacterial infections and hepatic encephalopathy – a brain ailment caused by liver failure.
Foie gras production has been banned in 16 countries, including the UK, Germany and Israel. Pope Benedict has denounced the production of foie gras as cruel, and Sir Roger Moore narrated a graphic video showing the cruelty of foie gras production.
A copy of Ecclestone's letter to Tony Fernandes is available upon request. For more information, please visit PETAAsiaPacific.com.
