Viva! 8 York Court Wilder Street Bristol BS2 8QH Tel: 0117 944 1000 Fax: 0117 924 4646 email: media@viva.org.uk	26 May 2000 A joint statement from Viva! and Harrods Harrods today announced they would be withdrawing all factory farmed duck meat from the food hall of their Knightsbridge store in London. The decision follows consultation between Harrods’ management and the animal charity Viva!, who provided the store with detailed information on UK duck production as part of its Ducks out of Water campaign. It included a 52-page scientific report, photographs and covert video footage shot inside the premises of Harrods’ duck supplier, Green Label Foods, at Maple Lodge Farm in Witnesham, Suffolk. The evidence revealed that the ducks are reared indoors, with thousands in a single unit. It showed dead, dirty and injured birds inside the sheds and bins full of dead ducklings outside. Most disturbing was the revelation that these aquatic animals are provided with no water for swimming. Unable to fulfil this fundamental need, they can suffer from poor and dirty feathers, difficulty in keeping warm, eye problems and even blindness. These same conditions apply to almost all farmed ducks in the UK. From now on, Harrods’ duck meat will only be sourced from birds reared in free range, organic systems. Viva!’s director, Juliet Gellatley, said: “We congratulate Harrods on their prompt decision to stop selling factory-farmed duck meat. When they received our information their first concern was for the welfare of the animals. We believe they are in tune with the public, who have great concern over factory farming, and we call upon the major supermarkets to follow Harrods’ lead by refusing to stock ducks reared in cruel, intensive systems.”