How to Have a Cruelty-Free Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time for friends and loved ones to come together around the Thanksgiving table, but it marks a far darker time for the turkeys raised for meat as the centerpiece of the table. Turkeys raised for Thanksgiving and holiday meals suffer on industrial factory farms and spend their entire lives never setting foot outdoors. Learn how you can make Thanksgiving a peaceful, kind, respectful one for animals and turkeys, by taking them off your Thanksgiving table. Choose a cruelty-free, meatless Thanksgiving holiday celebration. Here’s how.

What’s Uniquely Special About Turkeys

Turkeys are incredibly intelligent, curious and sensitive animals that have strong family bonds and social ties with each other. They create life-long connections with each other and live as long as 10 years in the wild. Young turkeys, called poults or chicks, will stay very close to their mother for up to a year to stay safe and warm, until they are strong enough to roost in trees to protect themselves from predators. Every turkey has a unique voice which allows them to recognize and communicate with each other, and they have over 20 distinct vocalizations that can be heard for up to a mile away. Turkeys can travel in the wild with groups of 200 birds or more, and can run at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour, and fly as fast as 55 miles per hour. They have up to 5,000 to 6,000 feathers and 18 tail feathers that make up their distinct and beautiful fan. Here are more interesting turkey facts.

A Day in the Life of a Thanksgiving Turkey

The vast majority of turkeys raised for Thanksgiving are raised on cruel industrial factory farms. At birth, baby turkeys never get to know their mothers, they are hatched in incubators, then just after birth are painfully mutilated—they are de-beaked (their beaks are cut off), and de-toed (their toes are cut off), and their snoods are cut off—all without the use of anesthetics or pain relief. They are genetically bred and forced to grow enormously large in an extremely short period of time and as a result they cannot walk, and are rendered lame and arthritic at only weeks old. Due to having abnormally large breasts or chests from breeding, they fall over, are unable to walk, and cannot even stand up. Their abnormal growth causes them extreme pain, suffering and constant misery. They live in extreme overcrowding raised in cages piled on top of each other, crammed into huge warehouses with thousands of other motherless young birds. They are rife with disease, upper respiratory infections, blistered breasts from scraping the ground, have ulcerated feet, ammonia-burned eyes from high amounts of toxic waste, manure and urine-soaked floors that all pollute the air making it painful to breathe. Sick, injured and dying birds are common in these warehouses. Thanksgiving turkeys are pumped full of antibiotics, and when they are still youngsters at 12-26 weeks old—they are crammed into wire cages and shipped off to slaughter. They are slaughtered in a brutal, painful assembly-line style where many are not even rendered unconscious, but are still fully conscious as they are bled to death. Many are often scalded while still alive. There are no legal protections for turkeys or chickens in the U.S., nor do any animal welfare laws apply to them. Turkeys raised on so-called “humane farms” suffer and experience the same extreme cruelty—they are not spared from any of the routine suffering and experience the same violent death.

Having a turkey as your centerpiece puts misery, suffering, violence and death right at the center of the dining table and the family meal.

Instead, commit to saving the life of this beautiful sentient bird, with a cruelty-free alternative. There are many healthy, plant-based vegan roasts that are made just for the holidays, that are delicious and don’t involve hurting turkeys. Go cruelty-free instead this Thanksgiving!

Plant-Based, Vegan Holiday Roasts – Turkey Alternatives

There are many vegan roasts that replace a turkey as the main dish. These roasts are not only convenient, but healthy and incredibly delicious—all you have to do is heat them up and they are ready to eat. They are available at most major grocers including Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Publix, Target, Krogers and more.

Field Roast Celebration Roast With Traditional Bread Stuffing and Porcini Mushroom Gravy
Field Roast Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute
Field Roast Classic 1 Pound Celebration Roast
Myrtle Greens Vegan Whole Turkey
Myrtle Greens Vegan Ham Substitute
Myrtle Greens Vegan Lamb
Myrtle Greens Deluxe Vegan Combo Holiday
Myrtle Greens Chicken, Turkey Roll
Quorn Meatless Turkey Roast
Trader Joe’s Turkey-less Stuffed Roast With Gravy (Displays only during the holiday)
Gardein’s Holiday Roast
Gardein’s Savory Stuffed Turk’y
Tofurky Holiday Vegetarian Roast and Gravy
Homemade Vegetarian Tofu Turkey With Stuffing

For a complete vegan dinner, check out these vegan and vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes.

VEGAN THANKSGIVING GUIDE: http:/worldofvegan.com/thanksgiving

VEGAN TURKEY OPTIONS: https://www.worldofvegan.com/vegan-turkey-face-off/

How to Help Turkeys

Instead of serving a turkey that has been killed for your meal, serve a vegan, plant-based roast – and share why you are choosing to do this with your family and friends.
Visit a farm animal sanctuary, find out when they give tours, bring the kids, and meet the farm animals.
Attend a vegan Thanksgiving dinner at a farm animal sanctuary that supports the animals.
Sponsor a turkey at a local animal sanctuary, or better yet, donate to a farm animal sanctuary to help provide needed funds to all the animals.
Volunteer your time and skills at an animal sanctuary.
Spread awareness about how to enjoy a cruelty-free Thanksgiving or Christmas, and how to live cruelty-free.

Facts About Turkey Production

45+ million turkeys are raised and slaughtered annually in the U.S. for Thanksgiving alone (or 1/6 of all of the turkeys sold in the U.S. each year).
245 million turkeys are killed annually in the U.S.
Since 1970, turkey production in the U.S. has increased nearly 100 percent.
Most turkeys are raised on factory farms predominately in Minnesota, North Carolina and Arkansas.
Nearly 1 million turkeys and chickens are accidentally boiled alive every year in the U.S., at slaughterhouse plants.

VIDEOS TO WATCH

A Day in the Life of a Thanksgiving Turkey

This video exposes the hidden lives of Thanksgiving turkeys through non-graphic illustrations. See what life is really like for turkeys in the animal agriculture industry—and remember, you have the power to end this cruelty by choosing vegan.

Turkey in 60 Seconds (PETA)

This is how your Thanksgiving dinner is really made—in a one minute video.

Thanksgiving’s Toll on Turkeys (Farm Sanctuary)

This new video exposes the truth behind commercial turkey production, explores why these sensitive, social animals are worthy of our protection and encourages viewers to adopt a new Thanksgiving tradition. To learn more about how you can help make this Thanksgiving a peaceful one for turkeys everywhere, visit http://www.adoptaturkey.org.

Baby Turkeys Ground Up Alive – Is Normal Farming Practice (Mercy For Animals)

Inside A Turkey Breeding Facility (Free From Harm)

Why Not to Eat Turkey (in Spanish)

Articles About The Truth of Thanksgiving Turkey in the U.S.

The following links provide a wide variety of articles to read and share, from heartwarming rescue stories and turkey-human interactions to facts about the cruel, inhumane turkey industry that raises turkeys for food.

Whole Foods Thanksgiving Turkeys Endure Horrific Conditions

22 Facts That Will Make You Pass on Turkey This Year

12 Reasons You May Never Want To Eat Turkey Again

Dying Traditions: The Truth About Thanksgiving Turkey

Moving Beyond the False Stereotypes of Turkeys

Amy: The Face of So-Called Humane Meat

Baby Turkeys Ground Up Alive? It’s Normal Farming Practice

Farmer Wants World to See What Humane Turkey Slaughter Looks Like

Revolting Video of Turkey Breeding Looks Like Bestiality to Us

How A Turkey Became My Best Friend

Turkeys Snuggling Like Cats and Dogs Will Touch Your Heart

Turkey Talk Between Bird and Human Will Blow Your Mind