Goose liver may be dropped from Israeli menus, starting in the year 2005. The Supreme Court, accepting the claims of several animal-rights organizations this morning, ruled that the prevalent method of fattening geese is cruel, and that the Health Ministry regulations permitting them are illegal. Israeli law prevents unnecessary cruelty to animals. The geese farmers have until March 2005 before the forced-feeding of geese becomes illegal.
The petitioners expressed great satisfaction at the ruling, and a representative said, "I'm sure the geese thank us from the depths of their liver." The banned method involves forced-feeding of the geese up to a third of their weight each day, via a metal tube inserted forcefully into the throat. This causes a disease of the liver that, in the end, makes it tastier.
Nations such as England, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria, Belgium and Germany have shown their concern for animals by outlawing this method of fattening geese.
Supreme Court Justice Asher Gronis was in the minority. He wrote, "At the end of the day, I found that this method does in fact cause suffering to the geese. Nevertheless, in my opinion we must not justify preventing the geese from suffering by causing suffering to the farmers - which is the consequence of cutting off their sustenance all at once."