If you haven’t already snagged a copy of this week’s Hello! magazine, it’s time you picked up your purse and headed to the shop. Pronto. For gracing the pages of this issue, is the one and only Sir Roger ‘James Bond’ Moore, writing all about his favourite (or I should say, his pet peeve) subject – the foie gras industry.

With a full page feature, written by the foie-gras foe himself, and photos of the cruel industry, it’s sure to turn a few heads and stop readers in their tracks. And the former 007 agent is certainly not one to shy away from the gruesome details, as he writes of the investigation video that he narrated for PETA, “Some of the birds have holes in their necks from pipe injuries, many have bloody beaks and mangled wings, and others are dangling by wires with blood spilling from their necks.” His principal target is, of course, Selfridges, of which he says, “I have informed Selfridges owner Galen Weston that until his store stops this disgusting product, I will have no choice but to shop elsewhere… I enclosed the PETA video, in the hope that it will open his eyes to the cruelty he is supporting by selling foie gras”.

But of course the feature does also throw in a few dodgy Bond puns that I’ve resisted here, just for good measure. Go buy!

Image: Bond Movies / CC

‘The name’s Bond. James Bond.’ If Sir Roger Moore, aka James Bond of years past, told me he’s unhappy with the state of affairs at my store, I’d sure as hell do something about it. Selfridges are losing his custom until they stop selling foie gras, much like other important figures such as the Duchess of Hamilton, proof that more and more people are turning their backs on force-feeding cruelty and doing something to beat it.

Here’s the letter Roger sent to the chair of Selfridges. This entry will self-destruct in 5…4…3…2…

13 May 2008

Dear Mr Weston,

I was recently informed by my friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that Selfridges sells foie gras. I am writing to urge you to pull this cruel product from store shelves.

As you know, foie gras (“fatty liver”) is made from the grotesquely enlarged livers of male ducks and geese – it is arguably one of most cruelly produced food products in the world. PETA’s undercover videos of foie gras production show birds kept in tiny wire cages or packed into sheds. Two or three times every day, 4 pounds of grain and fat are pumped into the birds’ stomachs through pipes that are forced down their throats. This force-feeding causes their livers to become diseased and swell to up to 10 times their normal size. The pipes sometimes puncture the birds’ throats, and the massive amounts of food can rupture their internal organs. Foie gras is so cruel that its production has been banned in 15 countries, including the UK, and 60 per cent of Britons believe foie gras sales should be banned outright.

Please take a few minutes to watch the enclosed video and then let me know if you will stop selling this disgusting product. Until I hear from you, I will have no choice but to boycott Selfridges and shop elsewhere during my frequent trips to London.

Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Sir Roger Moore