This Is Why Vegans Don’t Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving

This Is Why Vegans Don’t Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving

 8 reasons turkeys will change the way you think about everything

Seven years ago I was vegetarian, and my wife was only eating turkey and chicken. Then we went to Farm Sanctuary's Pigapalooza and that all changed for her. We walked into the turkey pen, and one of the turkeys walked up to her. She kneeled down, and he got close and put his head over her shoulder for a hug. At that moment she went back to being vegetarian too.

Turkeys are intelligent and sensitive animals that are highly social. They create lasting social bonds with each other and are very affectionate; rather similar to dogs. They are known to exhibit over 20 distinct vocalizations. Males can be heard making a distinctive gobble from a mile away.

Baby turkeys (poults) flock with their mother all year. Although wild turkeys roost in the trees, as poults are unable to fly for the first couple of weeks of their lives, the mother stays with them at ground level to keep them safe and warm until they are robust enough to all roost up in the safety of the trees.

In factory farms, turkeys are crowded together so tightly that flapping a wing or stretching a leg is close to impossible. Their beaks are often cut off with a red-hot blade to prevent stress-induced fighting. At the slaughterhouse, the birds are stunned by having their heads plunged into an electrically-charged water bath. Some birds are not rendered unconscious and scalded to death in the defeathering tank.

Here are some more reasons why to keep turkeys off your plate.

Here are some recipes to celebrate Thanksgiving and keep turkeys off your plate.

 

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