PETA was supposed to send us a photo of their anti-turkey pardon protest, but they didn’t in time, so here’s a tasty turkey. (Via Shutterstock)
President Obama performed one of the most important duties of his office this afternoon when he allowed a pair of turkeys to avoid brines and carving knives and instead roam free. (For a little while at least, considering how unhealthy mature roasting turkeys are.)
But the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is taking offense to this act of allowing two animals to live out their fat, wobbly lives on a Virginia farm instead of them being basted, roasted and crammed full of stuffing tomorrow. In a letter to Obama, PETA’s president, Ingrid Newkirk asked the White House to ditch the annual tradition started in 1989 by President George H.W. Bush.
“It makes light of the mass slaughter of some 46 million gentle, intelligent birds and portrays the United States’ president as being in some sort of business partnership with the turkey-killing industry,” Newkirk wrote.
Newkirk also claimed that the plight faced by all those tasty birds is on par with that faced by many groups of humans that make up Obama’s political base:
You understand so well that African-Americans, women, and members of the LGBT community have been poorly served throughout history and now I am asking you to consider other living beings who are ridiculed, belittled, and treated as if their sentience, feelings, and very natures count for nothing.
“Turkeys feel pain and fear like we all do,” Ashley Byrne, a PETA spokeswoman, said when asked about her boss’ equivalency between cooked birds and civil rights.
The two turkeys that Obama will pardon today—Cobbler and Gobbler, 40-pound birds raised in Rockingham County, Va.—will get to live out the rest of their lives at George Washington’s estate in Mount Vernon.
Though they’ll likely expire before Thanksgiving 2013—turkeys that reach 40 pounds at 19 weeks aren’t exactly models of avian health—Cobbler and Gobbler are not going to be eaten. But that didn’t stop PETA from demonstrating outside the gates of the White House earlier today. A group of activists distributed samples of Field Roast, a vegan Thanksgiving dish, to passersby. Three PETA staffers also wore cartoon turkey and toted placards calling on Obama to “pardon all the turkeys.”
“It’s not enough to pardon two turkeys every year,” Byrne told DCist. “Forty-six million turkeys suffer and die before becoming Thanksgiving dinners.”
Byrne also said that PETA’s own investigations have revealed some truly nightmarish conditions at factories operated by large poultry producers such as Butterball. “We’ve even found turkeys being sexually abused, ” she said. “Workers stomping on their skulls and exploding them for fun.”
Newkirk’s full letter:
Dear Mr. President:
People who are vegetarian for religious, health, environmental, or ethical reasons—with all due respect, I’m writing on behalf of them all as well as on behalf of PETA’s millions of members and supporters, particularly young vegetarians who look to you to recognize their very existence.
You understand so well that African-Americans, women, and members of the LGBT community have been poorly served throughout history, and now I am asking you to consider other living beings who are ridiculed, belittled, and treated as if their sentience, feelings, and very natures count for nothing.
The White House turkey “pardon” is a sorely outdated event. It makes light of the mass slaughter of some 46 million gentle, intelligent birds and portrays the United States’ president as being in some sort of business partnership with the turkey-killing industry. Turkeys do not need to be “pardoned”—they are not guilty of anything other than being born into a world of prejudice. They are innocents who should be respected for who they are: good mothers, smart birds, and interesting animals.
This year, we encourage you to forgo this event, which so many Americans find offensive, and choose a delicious, healthy Tofurky roast for your family’s holiday table. Thank you for your consideration. We wish you, your family, and the world a happy, violence-free Thanksgiving.
