DA Lungen sued by U.S. Humane Society

County attorney also named

By FRITZ MAYER

FERNDALE, NY — A new front has been opened in the war against foie gras produced in Sullivan County. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) last week filed suit against Sullivan County District Attorney Stephen Lungen, as well as county attorney Sam Yasgur and the new county manager David Fanslau. The suit charges that the HSUS was improperly denied information about Lungen requested under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL.)

But the real issue is foie gras, and the battle began 10 months ago.

In December 2005, the HSUS wrote a letter to Lungen and then Sheriff Dan Hogue, urging them to launch an animal cruelty investigation of La Belle Farms in Ferndale. Lungen had investigated the facility 10 years earlier, and he said he looked into the matter again. But after consulting with various veterinarians, he concluded that no criminal offense was being committed. Moreover, said Lungen, “the New York State Legislature decided in 2004 not to make foie gras production a criminal offense, so how could I prosecute the owners of the farm?”

In May, Lungen told HSUS representatives that there would be no criminal prosecution in the matter.

It’s a position the organization cannot easily accept.

“New York has some of the strictest laws against cruelty to animals in the nation,” said Carter Dillard, director of farm animal litigation for the HSUS. “Any process that enlarges an organ of an animal by an order of 10 or 12 times, is cruel by definition.”

In response to Lungen’s position, Dillard used the FOIL law to get financial information about him from documents on file with the county. Dillard said the HSUS was looking to see if there was anything “unusual” about the relationship between Lungen and La Belle. Dillard said that the county provided HSUS with most of the requested information, but some of it was redacted. Also his agency was not allowed to make copies of some of the documents, which he said is illegal.

According to the suit, among the materials not made available were documents that would allow the HSUS to identify sources of employment or income for Lungen’s “immediate family members.”

That was a line that Lungen said he is not willing to cross. Lungen said HSUS received access to all the financial information that would let them determine his investments, but he refused to allow them such personal information as his social security number, and information about his wife and children. “I am going to fight this, and I’m going to urge the county to fight this vigorously,” he said.

Lungen said he had no connection with the foie gras facility, not even as a consumer. “I don’t eat that stuff,” he said.

There is a court date scheduled for October 10, but Dillard said that may change.

The anti-foie gras movement

There are currently only three foie gras production facilities in the United States; one in California, and two in Sullivan County.

In the French language, foie gras means “fatty liver.” To get those livers to be sufficiently fatty, producers force-feed young ducks grain through a tube inserted into their throats. The feeding period lasts about three weeks. There is disagreement about whether this is painful to the fowl, but some localities are moving to ban the sale of the food that many consider a delicacy.

In 2004, California passed a law banning the sale and production of foie gras, but the law does not take effect until 2012.

In Chicago, the sale of foie gras was banned within the city limits in April, but there is a movement to repeal the law. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has called the ban “the silliest law the city council has ever passed.”

Other movements to ban foie gras are being pursued in Philadelphia and Maine. Bans are already in place in several countries including Britain, Switzerland, Germany and Israel.