Jérôme Dumarty, co-founder

of Stop Gavage Suisse

Testimony

How can we not be depressed by animal suffering and save a million birds?

Until the age of 21, I led a regular life. I had just moved into my first shared flat when I discovered the animal cause. Reading the book Animal Liberation, I quickly embraced the ideas of the philosopher Peter Singer, and became a vegetarian in the process. It would then take me a year to become completely vegan.

The problem was not changing my diet, but the fact that those around me, starting with my roommates and my family, did not understand my approach at all, and above all the reason for it: to refuse to make animals suffer.

From then on, I kept trying to convince people, through discussions, pictures, films, books... But nothing helped: the impulse I had had when I read Singer was not in my interlocutors and I started to get depressed when I saw that at this rate, the fate of the animals would never improve. I tried to learn as much as I could about animal exploitation, and the more I learned, the more depressed I became, the more the issue of animal suffering seemed insoluble to me. The number of victims and their suffering was immeasurable. This made me suffer a lot.

Little by little, I became involved in the animal cause, in militant associations. That soothed me. Rather than sinking into depression, I was able to take concrete action. But despite my commitment, there were still so many animals being exploited and killed.

After years of reflection, research and meetings, I founded the association Stop Gavage Suisse, inspired by the Stop Gavage campaign of L214. With the theme of foie gras in Switzerland, I finally saw the concrete possibility of rapidly saving more than a million birds a year. I am really excited about this prospect.

But to succeed in this mission, the association needs you!

Join the association

Membership is free because the most important thing is that as many of us as possible defend this cause in order to be heard by the decision-makers.

You can join without any financial contribution if you wish. You will receive the newsletter and the invitations to the General Assemblies. But don't worry, it won't flood your mailbox.

Your membership is renewed tacitly every year, but you can of course unsubscribe at any time.

I WANT TO JOIN STOP GAVAGE SUISSE

Make a donation

Money is the sinews of war. We need it to cover the costs of information and lobbying activities, advertising campaigns and the services of the people commissioned by the association.

You choose the amount of your donation, whether it is one-off or recurring.

Payment is made via a secure platform:

Paypal, credit card or e-banking.

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Become a volunteer

In order to be effective, the association needs competent and motivated people in a wide range of fields. However, it cannot afford to pay for all the professional services it needs.

You certainly have time and skills that are useful to the association. You choose the time you devote to the association while giving meaning to your life by participating in a major animal liberation project.

Here are some areas we are looking for people for:

graphic design
photos, films
social networks
internet
stands
legal
fundraising
translations
writing articles

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ACT NOW

Stop Gavage Suisse and you

TESTIMONIES

At first I hesitated to join Stop Gavage Suisse because I am already a member of several other animal protection associations and my budget is limited. But as membership is free, I thought: why not? - Tobi

I spend a lot of time on social networks, so when I talked to members of Stop Gavage Suisse and realised that they were looking for someone to take care of their Instagram page, I was immediately interested. It doesn't take me that much time and I am helping to make the association's actions visible. - Valentine

What I like is meeting people. I find it important to talk to them directly to explain to them the atrocities that birds suffer because of foie gras. Plus, most of the time, people who eat foie gras only do it at Christmas, they really don't need it! That's why I like the stands of the Stop Gavage Suisse association, that's where I feel most useful. - Ève

I WANT TO SUPPORT STOP GAVAGE SUISSE

Concrete results

A MOTION IN THE SWISS PARLIAMENT

Thanks to the work of Stop Gavage Suisse and that of the Alliance Animale Suisse, a member of the National Council, Martin Haab, has already tabled a motion in early March 2020 calling for a ban on foie gras. This motion will be dealt with by Parliament within two years.

Now is the time to act to give the motion its full chance. If we wait too long, we risk seeing it fail. Then it will be years before the same opportunity arises again. We are counting on you to help the association make its voice heard.

A life of suffering for 10 minutes of taste pleasure

Imagine having a tube inserted down to your stomach and being injected with huge amounts of corn mash (ten times the normal amount that the liver can absorb) in a few seconds, twice a day.
The first time you think you are dying. And each time you think you are dying.
You get diarrhoea.
Your liver gets so big in a few days that it crushes your lungs and you can't breathe properly, you suffocate.
Your body can't keep up, your body is out of balance, it can't regulate the temperature and you get hot flashes.
You have no water, you are extremely thirsty.
The cage in which you are locked up hurts you, but you have nowhere to go to relieve your injuries.
You feel like dying. Your wish is granted after 15 days of ordeal. They take you, electrocute you and slit your throat.

Force-feeding is forbidden as a form of torture in many countries, including Switzerland.

Some countries and states have even banned all trade of foie gras.

But Switzerland continues to import this product.

It is time for Switzerland to put an end to this hypocritical situation and ban the trade of foie gras.

Together, let’s encourage Switzerland to be part of the flow of history and join the countries and states that have already banned foie gras, such as India, California and New York.

We need you!

Membership is free of charge. The most important thing is that there are many of us to show the political world that this issue is important and that action is needed.

With the tabling of the Haab motion, there is an urgent need to mobilise the Swiss and the political class. We need you now!

I WANT TO SUPPORT STOP GAVAGE SUISSE

Alternatives to foie gras

It may be useful to introduce foie gras consumers to alternatives in order to help them stop eating this product more easily.

In recent years, these have multiplied. There are of course the plant-based alternatives on the market and recipes for making your own faux-gras.

See our article on plant-based alternatives to foie gras

Discover fake fat recipes

There are also meat alternatives to foie gras obtained by force-feeding. We are not in favour of these alternatives, but they at least have the merit of existing and avoiding the torture of force-feeding birds, although they do not avoid the slaughterhouse.

Read our article on meat alternatives to foie gras obtained by force-feeding