Earth Protect Blog

Thanksgiving should be a time for celebration, not cruelty, yet approximately 45 million turkeys — gentle birds who enjoy having their feathers stroked and gobbling along to music — are killed every year for Thanksgiving dinner.

Before they’re killed, turkeys spend several months packed tightly together in filthy, dark sheds. To keep them from pecking one another in stress and deprivation, factory workers cut off part of the birds’ sensitive upper beaks with a hot blade — using no pain relievers.

At the slaughterhouse, the terrified turkeys are hung upside-down and dragged through an electrified “stunning tank,” which immobilizes them but does not kill them.

Many birds dodge the tank and are still conscious when their throats are slit. Many are then scalded alive in the tanks of water used for feather removal.

If you want your holiday centerpiece to reflect joy and gratitude rather than pain and suffering, then try a tasty vegan feast. Visit www.PETA.org for gourmet recipes and product suggestions, and have a happy and humane holiday. — Heather Moore, The PETA Foundation, Norfolk, Va.