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H 23°, L 9°Thanksgiving should be a time for celebration, not suffering. Yet, approximately 45 million turkeys — smart, social birds that enjoy taking dust baths, having their feathers stroked and gobbling along to their favorite tunes — are killed every year for Thanksgiving dinner.
Before they are killed, they spend several months packed tightly together in filthy, dark sheds, and flapping their wings is nearly impossible. To keep the birds from pecking one another in frustration, factory workers cut off a portion of their sensitive upper beaks with a hot blade — without using painkillers.
At the slaughterhouse, turkeys are hung upside-down, and their heads are 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. If the knife fails to properly slit the birds’ throats, the birds are scalded to death in the de-feathering tanks.
If this doesn’t sound like something to give thanks for, consider what you can do to make things better. Visit www.VegCooking.com for humane holiday recipes and information on purchasing a ready-made vegetarian Thanksgiving feast.
Heather Moore
Senior Writer
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
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yep and how many WILD TURKEY habitats are destroyed in order to plant and harvest those vegetables you’ll be enjoying this Thanksgiving???
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Heather has a good point about the treatment of those animals. That’s why my family has a tradition of eating turkeys or other delicious animals that we shoot, clean, and prepare ourselves.
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O…….K……..
I don’t suppose you folks care as much about the victims of genocide in Darfur, or the homeless, or children without healthcare, do you? I mean, really? Turkeys are your biggest priority in life?
And couldn’t you at least write an original letter? PETA has been using these same tired, discredited talking points for years.
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“approximately 45 million turkeys”
And just how many of these turkeys would be around if there was no eating them? None!
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I say we eat people from PETA instead. I call the quadriceps!
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Ahhhh … the People Eating Tasty Animals using scare tactics again. Is it good enough that you got Pamela Anderson on your side?
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I wish restaurants would stay open for Thanksgiving and offer turkey dinners. It takes all day to cook the damn thing!
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Dear BH, thank you so much for posting these informative letters to the editor about important local matters written by local people with an interesting perspective. It’s great to stir intelligent debate on issues facing Madison. Like, um, turkeys.
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I think turkeys should be the only animals we eat, because they’re SO ugly. Gosh, what maniac made such an ugly animal the symbol of our thanks?
Perhaps we should all be thankful that we are not as ugly as those scrotum-chinned poultry.
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“Let my turkeys go”
YOUR turkeys???
Did you birth them, raise them or perhaps even purchase those turkeys?
In the event somebody “let them go” where would you suggest the turkeys go? Will you be feeding the turkeys?
Do you have room for 45 million turkeys at your home?
Or are you just an idiot?
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What are we supposed to do with all these animals if we can’t eat them? I mean, dang, how many fur coats do I need?
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In my experience, the further away people are from the real work and working with animals, the more likely they are to take up the vegetarian cause.
It’s the “cool thing to do” for naive kids away at school who think they understand the world, unlike dumb old mom and dad at home.
And PETA is ready for these simpletons looking for something to protest. They are quick to grab onto brand names with flashy graphics, and take some brainless actor as a spokesperson (talk about people who don’t understand the real world!).
But the PETA fans still want their health care and vaccinations…all of which are developed on or contain animal products. I’ve never had a patient from the ER refuse a medical procedure because their heparin was made from intestines.
I am an omnivore. I’ve been evolving for two million years. Like all of my species, I eat a diet of meats and plant-based foods. That’s nature. Humans cannot even create all the amino acids we need to survive. We need to either make them in a lab or eat meat.
What’s more natural?