Unleashed Activism

The Austin Aquarium (and its many issues) is in the news!

This past Monday, the Austin Animal Advisory Commission decided to clarify the language of an ordinance to ban public contact with wild animals in Austin (for for-profit organizations not accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums), before recommending it to Austin City Council.

The Austin Aquarium is unique in that they not only allow, but encourage, anyone to touch, pet, and feed animals with little to no supervision.

Naturally, the repercussions of this practice are dire. Hundreds of children have been bitten and scratched by their animals thus far, with some requiring medical attention. As long as this policy exists, unknowing families will continue to send their children to a facility that doesn’t care about them, or the animals that unwittingly attack them.

The Austin Aquarium doesn’t just mistreat their animals; they mistreat their visitors.

Foie gras, or the “fatty liver” of ducks and geese is, a dish that necessitates the abuse and exploitation of millions of animals every single year. It requires ducks and geese to be force-fed 8 times the amount of feed they would ever ordinarily eat, by shoving metal tubes down their throat. Their livers expand to 10 times their normal size, and they go on to die 20 times more often than those who are not force fed.

Foie gras itself requires nothing less than torture, and it has no place in today’s day and age, and certainly no place on our dining tables or restaurants.

Unfortunately, while 16 other countries have banned foie gras, the US has not. Accordingly, restaurants in Austin like Uchi and Uchiko continue to buy into this abusive practice, despite regular public dissent and protest.

Foie Gras Is a “Dish” of the Past Foie gras, or “fatty liver,” is a delicacy tracing all the way back to 2500 BCE, and while most popular in France, is served regularly throughout the United States. It can be served alongside steak…