The images in the following program are very sensitive and may be as disturbing to viewers as they were to us. However, we have to show the truth about cruelty to animals.

Most consumers have no idea how cruel the process of procuring the feathers really is. But if people are buying feathers then live plucking will continue. Really the only way to stop this practice is to refuse to buy any products made of feather or down.

This is the Stop Animal Cruelty program on Supreme Master Television, where our focus this week is on the callous, unconscionable practice of live feather plucking.

Although a vast array of excellent synthetic materials are available that provide insulation and softness in products such as pillows, jackets, sleeping bags and comforters, some manufacturers persist in using the heartlessly produced material known as “down,” the soft layer of quill-less feathers found closest to the chest area of ducks and geese beneath the outer feathers.

Feathers are unique to the avian species and have many functions, including aiding flight, protecting birds’ skin from the Sun’s ultraviolet rays, providing warmth when needed and giving birds their beautiful, regal appearance. In past centuries, naturally shed down and feathers were collected from nests after ducks and geese had hatched their eggs and left.

Today, however, most down and plumage are removed from ducks and geese during slaughter, for meat and foie gras, the livers of inhumanely tortured and fattened ducks or geese, or is live plucked.

On these factory farms they’ll pack 20,000 geese into a one small area and then they will live pluck them several times a year until they’re four years old.

During live plucking, the feathers of ducks and geese are violently ripped from their sensitive bodies without anesthesia or regard for the animals’ welfare. This vicious practice causes extreme physical and mental pain and distress to the gentle, loving birds. Live plucking is done purely to maximize profit before the birds are sent to slaughter. A recent investigation by the Swedish TV show Kalla Fakta or Cold Facts, found that live plucking is the primary means used to obtain down worldwide.

Someone did an undercover investigation and it shows geese being picked up by their back and having their feathers ripped out of their body. These frantic geese are trying to escape and in turn they strain their muscles and sometimes they even have broken limbs. Veterinarians and even goose breeders themselves have called this practice extremely cruel.

What really happens on duck- and goose- breeding farms? “Hungary Plucking” is a documentary produced by Mark M. Rissi, a Swiss film producer and communication officer for Swiss Animal Protection, an animal welfare organization, that exposes the abhorrent cruelty involved in this barbaric industry.

“Sweet dreams, snuggled up in the nest warmth of our coverlets and pillows,” this is what it says on the advertising brochures for down and feather covers. On the package of down coverlets Heidi is leading the happy geese to the pasture, the geese hear the sound of the flute, down feathers fly into the air. Down is much in demand, world production amounts to thousands of tons. Down coverlets are trendy because the informed customer has been told geese down is a healthy, natural product.

The fillings originate from free-range geese, hand harvested in the so-called pushta or Hungarian plucking as in grandma’s times. And this is what it looks like on such a geese farm in middle Hungary, 22,000 young geese fattened for slaughter or the production of foie gras. But before this final procedure, they serve another purpose, the harvesting of down, a sea of geese as far as the eye can see.

Such a concentration of geese contradicts the behavioral needs of the animals. Geese live in small family groups, so such a level of mass production causes stress. And this is what the pushta or Hungarian pluck as in grandma’s times looks like.

Their legs are tied at the back; the wings are squeezed together between the legs. Then the worker begins to rip out the feathers and down. This causes terrible fright and great pain to the goose, because the feathers are anchored in the skin. Except for the wing feathers, all feathers and down are torn off. The workers seem deaf to the screams of the pain of the geese. Their work has become just a routine.

There is no painless way of plucking. In the old times the down was collected from nests, there was no cruelty involved in this. Every other method involves force and distressing interference.

Would you call this true cruelty? Yes, I would call this a case of extreme cruelty.

Young geese have a coat of down, but after 14 to 21 days, this is replaced by feathers. A young goose gets a coat of feathers which has to last it a whole year. In caring for feathers it is important that the feathers keep their water resistance. The feathers lie like roof tiles over each other, and are charged electrically to repel water.

The goose pulls each feather through its beak, and lays it back into the original form. After a year, the goose loses a few feathers during molting, but even then, the coat of feather stays tight; it is imperative that no gap develops because the bird would cease to be waterproof.

When we return, we’ll continue examining the horrific toll that live feather plucking takes on geese and ducks. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

This is the Stop Animal Cruelty program on Supreme Master Television. Today we’re focusing on the vicious practice of plucking feathers from live ducks and geese.

Live plucking involves manually ripping feathers from un-anaesthetized ducks and geese. Factory farm workers position a bird between their knees, tie their legs behind their backs and rapidly pull out the under plumage with one hand while grabbing their tender necks with the other. The product of this complete savagery is called down, which is used in expensive bedding, jackets, gloves and many other items with soft fillings.

In Hungary they estimate that 25,000 tons of feathers are exported annually. Of those, 50% of down, and 40 to 45% of feathers are live plucked, and this is to maximize profits and to increase the total amount of feathers that they can get from each bird. They pluck the birds once every six weeks from the time they’re 10 weeks old until they’re four years old. They can get more feathers from each bird.

Millions of defenseless ducks and geese are victims of this violent industry every year.

These geese are only six to eight weeks old. The first molting will not take place for another year, but the factory farm can’t wait. The geese are hand plucked alive three times at this early age. Then they’re just slaughtered. The employees are paid piece rate; they must rip out the feathers in record time.

The animals are grabbed by the head and dragged over to the work place. The commotion creates enormous stress in the birds. This painful, casual treatment puts the geese into a state of total panic. They’re under great stress, their behavior is disturbed.

The animals need hours to recuperate. The plucking is done with great force; wounded skin is treated with disinfectant powder. Sometimes a leg or a wing gets broken because of unprofessional treatment. The geese struggle with all their might, these defensive movements cause muscles to tear. The animals have problems in keeping their balance, the staggering movements clearly show that these geese are suffering from torn muscles. These mistreated birds will be in pain because of these pluckings for many days.

Tearing plumage out in this brutal fashion can cause bleeding, serious injuries, large flesh wounds and stress-induced paralysis. One study showed that during plucking the blood glucose level of birds doubled, a sign of severe stress and trauma.

In a Swedish television show called “Cold Facts” they went undercover at goose farms and they recorded workers ripping feathers by the fistful off of animals. One of the workers was filmed using a thread and a needle to sew the skin of the geese back together after the skin has been ripped apart from plucking.

After a life of repeatedly having their feathers plucked in this utterly ruthless way, the animals are murdered for their meat. However, in some places, they are force-fed for another year in preparation for foie gras or fatty liver production.

That is one of the most abusive industries. Foie gras is basically the diseased liver of an overfed duck or a goose. And the way that the product is created is so cruel. They force-feed the animals by shoving a tube down their throats every day and putting in as much food as possible to create an over-sized, really fatty liver.

Force feeding was done three times a day for 28 days. The worker would restrain the bird with his legs and then force the duck’s neck upward and then force the beak open and then shove the metal pipe into the duck’s throat and then pump food into his stomach.

About 8,000 tons of foie gras are produced worldwide each year and several foie gras producers in the United States and thousands more in countries like France, Hungary and Israel slaughter about 13-million ducks and one-million geese each year.

Foie gras is considered a delicacy by some people but really all it is, is a delicacy of despair.

What can we do to halt live feather plucking, the production of foie gras, and the annual slaughtering of millions of ducks and geese?

The best thing that consumers can do is to realize if you’re buying feathers you’re supporting cruelty to animals. So to refuse to buy any feathers or down is the only way to stop this cruel practice.

Substitutes to down abound in the marketplace with many products using polyester fibers to provide great comfort and warmth.

If anyone wants to help animals, the best that they can do so is to stop eating or wearing anything made of animal products. As long as people are paying money for this, there will be somebody who will treat an animal in an awful way in order to make a dollar. With so many alternatives for your diet, for your clothing, there’s no excuse to use animal products.

Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet!

We highly commend Stephanie Corrigan of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Mark Rissi of Swiss Animal Protection and the many other caring individuals like them around the globe for their steadfast commitment to ceasing animal cruelty. Through their efforts, a world of only love soon will be ours.

For more details on these organizations, please visit the following websites:
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals www.PETA.org
Swiss Animal Protection www.Animal-Protection.net

Thank you for joining us for this edition of the Stop Animal Cruelty series on Supreme Master Television. Next up is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May lives of peace and harmony soon be known by all beings on our Earth.