Nov22
Two Turkeys 'Pardoned,' 49,999,998 to Go
Posted at 12:05 PM | Permalink
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Comments (8)
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Here's something. Today, George W. Bush "pardoned" a pair of turkeys, for whatever misdeeds they've been capable of packed into a filthy, windowless shed throughout their painful little lives. Two birds (out of the approximately 50 million turkeys who will have been killed for Thanksgiving this year) would at least be a start, if it weren't for the fact that the pardoned animals are usually sent to a place called "Frying Pan Park," which is about as unpleasant a retirement home for birds as it sounds. In case that isn't enough of a downer, the turkeys (who are morbidly obese because of the drugs they've been given to make them grow) aren't likely to live for more than a few months after their reprieve without specialized care. This year's lucky turkeys are being sent to Disneyland, to replace the turkeys who died last year shortly after their pardon. As we normally do around this time of year, PETA sent a letter to the president to point some of this stuff out. He hasn't gotten back to us yet, but we did get some good coverage of the story in the media, which you can check out here.
On a lighter note, I've been reading a bunch of stories recently about the increasing number of people who are going to be having themselves a vegetarian Thanksgiving. Fox news has a great article on the topic this week, and Business Week had a big piece on the success of Turtle Island Foods (which makes Tofurky products). The company "is turning a robust profit and expects $10 million in sales in 2006, despite dramatically lowering the cost of Tofurkys over the years." So, while this isn't exactly going to stop me from freaking out about the way turkeys are treated by companies like Butterball, it's pretty damn encouraging.
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Comments
Killing animals is bad, ina any sort of way. I like to eat meat but i think that animals should be comfortable before they die and then when they die they should get put down with a needle not with a knife!!!!!
Posted by: J | November 24, 2006 07:56 AM
J, so you are saying that it is NOT okay to kill an animal, but it IS okay to eat one? Riiight. If you had your life ended "comfortably", you wouldn't want a human to eat you right after you died, would you?
I don't think so.
Posted by: L | November 26, 2006 10:42 AM
About the killing animals with a "needle" part, your intentions are good, but unfortunately that will never happen. Factory farms are in business for profit, and if they can cut costs in anyway, even if it leads to animal suffering, they will.
I don't think anyone has the right to take ANYthing's life. The bottom line is if you purchase and eat meat, you are supporting animal cruelty.
Posted by: Kallie | November 26, 2006 12:53 PM
I agree with L. J makes no sense.
Unless, of course, you WOULD LIKE to eat meat, but you don't.
Posted by: Ellen | November 26, 2006 07:13 PM
Eating meat is natural. Animals eat meat, and so do humans. Wolves tear out a deers throat just as effectively as factory workers slit one. It's harsh, it's a disgusting process, and I would never do it directly... but meat is part of almost everyones life, including animals. If it were un-natural to eat meat, then there wouldn't be words like "Predator" and "Carnivore". We are omnivores, not herbivores. Eat what you like, but don't condemn those of us who eat what we are supposed to. Sure the conditions could be nicer, but when they slit a cows throat, they die alot quicker than when getting mauled by wolves.
Posted by: S | November 27, 2006 01:46 PM
S
PLEASE view the undercover video shot by a PETA member unknowingly employed by Butterball if you think animals slaughtered for food suffer nothing more than a quickly slit throat. Everyone who eats meat should have to see this video!
Eat what you like, but don't try to pretend that you don't contribute to horrific cruelty if you choose to eat meat!
Posted by: Mary | December 5, 2006 04:23 PM
I would really like to help PETA, but since im 15, i cant do anything..
Sorry, PETA-
Posted by: AP | December 5, 2006 08:06 PM
In response to a comment made by S....
While I do agree with you that eating meat is down to personal choice, you can't compare the eating habits of humans to animals. Animals don't have the physiology to make a choice on what they eat like us.
Eating meat is a moral & personal belief, although this is not to say that humans can't live without it.
People nowadays don't eat meat for survival it's choice and because of that, I would have to say that the meat industry has become mass produced for the sole purpose of profit. It's also quite sad to think that some farmers even go to the extent of genetic modification to try and alter turkey's appearance, weight, colour and cross-breeding by hormone injections.
I think Predatory acts by Wolves/Lions pale in comparison to certain methods used in chicken farms/factories:
1)Being boiled in water alive, easier for plucking
2)It's has been known when chickens are hung upside-down by there legs they necks aren't totally slit because the blade misses,if it does the head is either ripped-off or cut off.
3)Forced to eat so much that there legs can't hold their own weight.
As I said before it's personal choice, but people can live without meat.
Posted by: PB | January 6, 2007 04:42 PM