Stories Fine Dining Restaurant will no longer sell foie gras, the so called "delicacy" produced by force-feeding ducks -

eeding them, that is- until their livers swell to ten times their normal size.

The move comes less than two weeks after local animal rights group Central Texas Animal Defense ( CTAD ) sent hotel management a copy of an undercover video taken inside Stories' former foie gras supplier.

The video reveals shocking evidence of cruelty to animals--metal feeding pipes being rammed down ducks' throats as they struggle to get away and birds who are so diseased from the force-feeding process that they are unable to walk.

In an e-mail sent to CTAD, General Manager Steve Dewire stated, "We do not plan on offering anything with foie gras going forward."

Hyatt Regency Lost Pines joins a growing list of Austin area hotels and restaurants who have removed foie gras from their menus after learning how ducks raised for their livers are treated, including the Driskill Grill, the Judges' Hill Restaurant, the Barton Creek Resort's Hill Country Dining Room, and the Lakeway Resort and Spa.

In San Antonio, Biga on the Banks, the Fig Tree Restaurant, Meson, the Citrus Restaurant at Hotel Valencia, Las Canarias at the Omni Mansión del Rio, and the ORO Restaurant & Bar at the Emily Morgan Hotel have all stopped selling the fatty liver as well.

"If foie gras farms treated dogs or cats the way they treat ducks, they'd be thrown in jail for cruelty to animals," says Noah Cooper, Campaign Coordinator for CTAD, who is leading the effort to ban foie gras across Central Texas.

"I applaud Hyatt Regency Lost Pines and its management for sending a message to foie gras producers that responsible restaurant owners won't support such a sadistic industry."

The production and sale of foie gras has already been made illegal in the state of California, the city of Chicago, and at least 15 other countries. Legislators in five states--Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York--are also considering laws that would ban foie gras, as are city councilors in Philadelphia.

Central Texas Animal Defense hopes to convince other Austin area hotels and restaurants to follow in the Hyatt's footsteps. CTAD will be holding a protest outside the Four Seasons at 98 San Jacinto Boulevard on Friday, October 5, from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., asking people to boycott the hotel and its Trio Restaurant until it stops selling foie gras.

Interviews are available upon request. For more information on foie gras, and to view undercover video footage, please visit www.StopForceFeeding.com.