Nothing to be “thankful” for!

^Is this your Meal today ?^

More than 45 million turkeys are killed each year at Thanksgiving, and more than 22 million die at Christmas.

Before ending up as holiday centerpieces, these gentle, intelligent birds spend five to six months on factory farms where thousands of them are packed into dark sheds with no more than 3.5 square feet of space per bird. Turkeys on factory farms are denied everything that is natural to them, such as foraging for food, dustbathing, and raising their young.

To keep the overcrowded birds from scratching and pecking each other to death, workers cut off portions of the birds’ toes and upper beaks with hot blades and de-snood the males (the snood is the flap of skin that runs from the beak to the chest). No pain relievers are used during any of these procedures.

Turkeys are genetically bred to grow as fast as possible, and they often become crippled under their own weight. A PETA investigator videotaped one turkey farmer beating sick and injured birds to death with a pole, a killing method deemed “standard industry practice.”

Turkeys won’t breathe fresh air or feel the sun on their backs until they’re shoved onto trucks bound for slaughter. They are transported for hours without food or water through all weather extremes—and many will die on this nightmarish journey.

At the slaughterhouse, the survivors are hung upside-down by their weak and crippled legs before their heads are dragged through an electrified “stunning tank,” which immobilizes but does not kill them. Many birds dodge the tank and are still fully conscious when their throats are slit. If the knife fails to properly cut the birds’ throats, they are scalded alive in the tank of boiling water used for feather removal.

Please don’t support an industry that abuses these fascinating animals. Click here for a free vegetarian starter kit.

Adopt a Turkey Project!

TOUCHED BY A TURKEY
Thousands of Farm Sanctuary visitors have met our feathered friends and seen that turkeys are unique individuals with distinct personalities and feelings, just like other animals. One visitor remarked, “Turkeys remember your face and they will sit closer to you with each day you revisit.” Another visitor told us how she learned to scratch a turkey, “I have scratched dog ears and cows backs and a host of other animal hard-to-reach spots — but I never dreamed a bird, let alone a domestic turkey, would ask for a belly rub.”

TURKEY LOVE
Turkeys love cuddles, kisses and tickles just as much as people do! Read about Lydia the hugging turkey, who liked to give turkey hugs to shelter visitors…or Megan the Cuddling turkey who gives turkey kisses. Like dogs and cats, turkeys are very affectionate and companionable.

Every Thanksgiving, visitors flocked to Farm Sanctuary’s California shelter to receive a hug from Lydia. The famous “hugging turkey” would flap her wings and run toward guests. As visitors bent down, Lydia embraced them by pressing her chest against them and stretching her head and neck over their shoulders. Lydia brought much happiness to her visitors, and she enjoyed teaching people that turkeys need love too!

Since 1986, Farm Sanctuary’s annual Adopt-A-Turkey Project has rescued over one thousand turkeys from a thankless fate at the dinner table and given thousands of people an opportunity to adopt a turkey for the holidays.

Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt-A-Turkey Project offers two ways for people to adopt turkeys this Thanksgiving holiday.

1. Sponsor “adopt” a turkey who lives at Farm Sanctuary’s Watkins Glen, New York or Orland, California shelter for farm animals. For a one-time $20 adoption fee, adopters receive a color photograph of their turkey, an adoption certificate and a year subscription to Farm Sanctuary’s quarterly newsletter. The adoption fee provides funds for feed, bedding and veterinary care for the turkeys. Please call 607-583-2225 or click here to adopt a turkey who lives at Farm Sanctuary.

2. Home adopt and provide a safe, permanent and loving home for two or more turkeys. Home adopters must be vegetarian or vegan, and committed to providing lifelong care for their turkey friends. Individuals interested in home adoptions must complete an adoption application. Approved adopters will be placed on a schedule to have their turkey companions personally delivered by Farm Sanctuary staff on the Turkey Express.

Every year, more people are choosing to celebrate a compassionate Thanksgiving for ALL, by saving a turkey!

The Adopt-A-Turkey Project is a program of Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s largest farm animal rescue and protection organization.

The Shac 7

The SHAC 7 represents a frightening new frontier in the war on speech.

Indicted for protest activity against a criminally abusive animal-testing lab, their alleged modern forms of civil disobedience and traditional free expression are being heralded as terrorism by big business and their pocketed politicians.

The college graduates, law school student, EMT, and social justice volunteers draw a sharp contrast from the ‘Osama bin Ladens’ of the world, but are being pursued no differently. Charged under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act they face millions in fines and up to twenty-three years in jail for protected political speech and an unabashed support of controversial forms activism.

Their indictment is constitutionally flawed and imperils not just those who speak out on behalf of animals, but anyone who has something controversial to say. The stand they now take is a stand for civil liberties of us all.

strength in one’s conviction

 

this is your food.
this is your science.

this is your entertainment?
this is where your clothes come from?
 
 

this is disgusting.

this is cruel torture. this is murder.

Go Vegan!

strength in one’s conviction
deep and focused thought
extending compassion beyond one’s own desires, these are beautiful things

– Rachael Brady

VEGANISM: is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude all forms of exploitation of and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.
Living vegan provides numerous benefits to: animals and the quality of their lives, to the ecological integrity of our environment, and to ourselves, by keeping our bodies away from the problems associated with consumption of animals, and animal products.
First off, the meat and dairy industry causes the deaths of 27 billion chickens, cows, pigs, and other animals of the industry. The animals suffer unspeakable cruelties in order to maximize the profit made by the industry. They live their lives cut-short, caged, drugged, and mutilated. The farms are not like the ones most of us learned about in school, and have been told all of our lives; they are mechanized slaughter-houses where animal welfare is the last concern. They are hell on earth!
Second, Animal agriculture takes a devastating toll on the earth. It is an inefficient way of producing food, which squanders the vast majority of all grain grown in the U.S. The dependence of all the grain grown to shove down the throats of the animals has left the farmlands over-used causing them to be less productive in following yields. This forcing the conversion of wilderness lands into grain fields and farm land. Veganism all but eliminates these threats and leaves the land for what it was meant to be used for.
Lastly, consumption of animal fats and proteins has been linked to heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabeties, and many other diseases. Vegan foods, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans, are low in fat, contain no cholesterol, and are rich in vitamins and minerals. Plus, vegans get the perfect amount of protein. Cows’ milk has the perfect amounts of fat and protein for young calves, but far too much for humyns! Eating meat and dairy may be the surest way to an early grave.
GO VEGAN for the animals, for the environment, and for yourself!