PETA Sues Restaurant for Selling Banned Foie Gras

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a lawsuit against Hot’s Kitchen restaurant on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court for selling foie gras—enlarged duck and geese livers, which require the birds to be cruelly force-fed—which has been outlawed in the state of California since July. According to PETA officials, the restaurant was offering the foie gras as a complimentary side dish to customers who ordered its “THE Burger” menu item, and has been part of a group intent on overturning the ban, calling it “unconstitutional.” The law, which was passed in 2004, offered restaurants a significant grace period (ending July 1) to phase out the dish from menus. The penalty for breaking the law is a $1,000 fine per sale, per day.