Rosebud Sioux Tribe hog factory & Israeli foie gras cases

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2005:

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has reached an out-of-court
settlement with the U.S. Department of Interior that will limit the
Sun Prairie hog farming development on the reservation to just the
two 24-barn farms that are already operating, instead of the 13 that
the Bureau of Indian Affairs authorized on behalf of the Rosebud
Sioux Tribal Council in 1998, reported David Melmer of Indian
Country Today on May 9, 2005. In addition, the existing barns may
operate for only 20 years under the current lease, not 50 years,
Melmer wrote. Approval of the settlement by U.S. District Judge
Richard Battey is anticipated. “The two existing farms have 24 barns
that produce 2,000 hogs each per year and will continue to produce a
combined 96,000 hogs per year,” summarized Melmer. “Since the hog
farm lease agreement was announced, Concerned Rosebud Area Citizens,
the Humane Farming Association, and the South Dakota Peace & Justice
Center have tried to shut the project down. In 1999 a new tribal
council began trying to stop the growth of the hog farm, and in 2003
the BIA was asked to close it. The Department of Interior withdrew
the lease; Sun Prairie fought the tribe and the federal government
to keep the hog farms open. Nearly two years ago, Battey ruled that
the lease termination did not comply with due process and found the
lease to be valid.”

The Israeli Supreme Court on March 31, 2005 rejected a
petition from the Ministry of Agriculture asking that an 18-month
phase-in of a ban on producing foie gras be extended further. The
court ruled on August 11, 2003 that force-feeding ducks and geese
violates Israeli law, but allowed the phase-out. At the time,
Israel ranked fourth globally in foie gras exports, the Israeli foie
gras industry was worth $16.5 million per year, it employed 500
people, and it killed about 700,000 ducks and geese per year. The
Knesset, the Israeli parliament, on January 3, 2005 reinforced the
2003 court ruling with legislation specifically forbidding foie gras
production.