Vegan Practically

It’s Thanksgiving in the U.S. today (we had our Canadian Thanksgiving back in October). Frequently called “Turkey Day,” Thanksgiving is a day when the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates 46 million turkeys will be eaten. Another 22 million will find their way onto Christmas tables. Altogether, Americans consume an estimated 245 million (PETA) to 250 million (World Animal Foundation) turkeys a year.

One of the more perverse traditions (besides creating an entire celebratory meal around a dead bird) is that the President of the United States will “pardon” a turkey, sending it to a farm to live out its life instead of being slaughtered and eaten.

99% of the turkeys that end up on festive tables today come from factory farms. As is well-known, animals on factory farms suffer terrible lives. The organization World Animal Protection states that “[f]or turkeys raised on factory farms, their entire life is a nightmare.”

[content warning: description of animal suffering follows][credit for this information goes to PETA, World Animal Foundation, and World Animal Protection, though it is freely available at many other sources]

These birds, described as “intelligent animals who enjoy having their feathers stroked and…listening to music” live between three to five months before being slaughtered. The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act has been interpreted not to apply to turkeys and other factory-farmed birds (see “Let’s Talk Turkey: The Law Fails to Provide Even Basic Protections for Birds Used for Food”, Center for Animal Law Studies, Lewis & Clark Law School), so the conditions are truly horrific. During their short lives, factory farmed turkeys lives unfold as follows:

• They live in dark, crowded sheds filled with ammonia from their own waste, which routinely leads to respiratory illnesses.
• Because the crowded conditions are not natural to them and cause stress reactions such as pecking at one another, they are debeaked using a hot blade and without anaesthetic.
• Portions of their toes are also cut off, and males are de-snooded (the snood is that flappy part under their chin), often with scissors or clippers that just snip them off.
• In order to get from birth to slaughter in the least possible time (3-5 months–as compared to their wild counterparts who sometimes live up to 10 years), they experience unnaturally expedited and painful growth that causes them joint pain, heart attacks, organ failure, and immobility (requiring them to sit in their own waste, where they develop sores and infections)
• Baby turkeys who are sick or deemed too small are considered waste, and are macerated in a machine resembling a giant wood chipper (just like the one used to kill the useless male chicks on an egg farm unless they are instead electrocuted, gassed, suffocated, or decapitated by having their necks stretched until they break off)
• Once ready for slaughter, the turkeys are crammed into crates and transported without food, water, or heat to a slaughterhouse for “processing” (the industry doesn’t like to call it “slaughter”). Some never make it that far, dying on the trip that can take days.
• At the slaughterhouse, “they’re hung upside down, stunned by electrified water, and then have their throats cut. However, to keep up with demand, the industry kills these animals at such a fast rate that many times workers miss a bird and they end up in boiling water alive. USDA records have found that nearly 1 million birds are unintentionally boiled alive each year in US slaughterhouses” (quote from World Animal Protection article, “5 Ways Turkeys Suffer on Factory Farms”). 

It is impossible to claim that these birds have done anything wrong. They don’t need to be pardoned. They have already lived in harsh conditions of incarceration and suffering. The very idea of this “light-hearted” tradition is so perverse that it boggles the mind.

Historically, the National Turkey Association always gives the President of the United States a live turkey that was originally meant to be slaughtered and eaten. But the PR of slaughtering and feasting on an animal known to have been alive when it was gifted to the President created a delicate challenge. JFK “spared” a turkey just three days before his assassination. But it is thought that the first to actually offer a Presidential pardon was the George Bush in 1989.

Regardless of when the “pardoning” became official, it’s a misuse of the word “pardon” to apply it to exploited birds who’ve lived miserable lives with only one intended purpose. But if we are going to stick with the language of “pardon,” then every single person has the opportunity to “pardon a turkey” by ceasing to eat them anymore. There are lots of alternatives.

If you’re curious about how you can make a difference to the lives of animals and stop contributing to the cruelty, consider Veganuary or PETA’s free vegan starter kit or any number of other online and print resources available to help.

And even if it’s too late for today’s feast, there are other options for the holiday table in the future, with lots of time to do research, experiment, and get excited about trying new things. Here are some ideas from Laura at the vegan blog, The First Mess.