An animal rights group says it has gruesome images of ducks being mistreated by workers at Quebec's largest foie gras company.

Global Action Network wants to use the video to launch a campaign to ban foie gras in this country.

The group said it obtained the video by having a volunteer infiltrate Elevages Perigord in St. Louis de Gonzague, which is located about 55 kilometres southwest of Montreal.

"All the females end up in the garbage where they just suffocate to death. It's because they produce smaller livers," Andrew Plumbly, spokesperson for the Global Action Network, told CTV News.

Ducks are force-fed -- a process called gavaging -- to enlarge their livers to 10 times their normal size. Activists consider that alone to be a cruel activity.

But the workers are also shown kicking the smaller ducks and killing them by hitting them against a post.

"I think once people find out what happens behind the scene they will not buy the product," said Plumbly.

The activists have turned their footage over to police, saying they want charges laid.

The delicacy, which translates to "fatty liver," dates back thousands of years and is a regular on the menu of Quebec restaurants.

Activists have been successful elsewhere. Some European countries have already outlawed foie gras, as has the city of Chicago. California is planning to ban it by 2012.

"It's impossible to produce foie gras humanely," said Plumbly. "And thus, we need to get rid of this."

Farmer Alain Dansereau raises geese for foie gras on his family farm. He said a good product can only be made by treating animals kindly.

Although he said the images captured by Global Action Network don't represent the industry as a whole, he added that killing animals is "not a Walt Disney story. Sometimes it's not nice to see."

Foie gras lovers say the activists pick on the delicacy because it is seen as a snobby French treat, but predict the campaign will encounter resistance in Quebec.

"It is a very popular dish here," said Lise Naud, owner of La Rapiere.

With a report from CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin