Pittsburgh bans foie gras, pauses efforts to bar fur sales, horse-drawn carriages

Pittsburgh City Council on Monday voted to ban the French delicacy foie gras.

The measure — sponsored by council members Bruce Kraus, D-South Side, and Erika Strassburger, D-Squirrel Hill — bans the sale of force-fed animal products. Foie gras is created by forcing a foot-long tube down a bird’s throat and injecting unhealthy amounts of feed into the stomach. The force-feeding practice enlarges the animal’s liver to create fois gras.

The legislation allows for entities that are selling foie gras to provide documentary evidence that the animal was not force fed to gain an exemption.

Under the legislation, any establishment violating the ordinance will be fined $500 per violation.

“This isn’t about telling people what they can and can’t eat,” Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield said. “This is about animal cruelty.”

Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, and Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, voted against the measure.

“The ban on foie gras sales reflects our values and acknowledges the importance of responsible and more compassionate practices in our community,” said Natalie Ahwesh, executive action of Humane Animal Pittsburgh, which helped spearhead the legislation.

Council put on pause efforts to ban fur sales and horse-drawn carriage rides in the city. Council could take up those issues again in the new year.

Kraus has acknowledged Pittsburgh does not have large markets for foie gras, fur and horse-drawn carriages, but said the measures were meant to be “preventative in nature because we don’t have anything on the books.”