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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.
