From mythic symbol to alien species
- The wild turkey encountered by North American colonists could fly up to 50 miles an hour and was celebrated for its inquisitiveness and friendliness toward people and its ability to outwit hunters.
- Today's factory-farmed turkeys are genetically bred to grow so fast (tom turkeys can weigh up to 77 pounds) that their bones and leg muscles can't support their upper bodies, making them susceptible to organ failure and bone fractures.
- In fact, thousands of the 300 million turkeys produced in the US each year are crippled by the time they reach the slaughterhouse.
A recipe for misery
- Turkeys today often live in barns packed so tightly - about 2 square feet per bird - that many die from disease, suffocation and heart attacks. There is no regulated definition of "free range". For a look at a free range farm visit www.free-range-turkey.com (warning: it's shocking)
- Because of their close quarters, turkeys have to be de-beaked and declawed (with a heated blade or laser beam, without anaesthesia) to keep them from pecking and scratching each other to death. De-beaking can make eating so painful that many turkeys die of starvation.
- The barns are usually only cleaned between flocks, so turkeys are forced to stand in their own feces much of the time, making them susceptible to foot ulcerations (aka litter burn) that in extreme cases lead to lameness.
- Indeed, many farmed turkeys don't make it past the first few weeks before succumbing to "starve-out," a stress-related condition that causes them to stop eating.
Artificially yours
- Farmed turkeys are grown so unnaturally large - white meat is where the money is, don't you know - that they can't even perform normal reproductive behaviours, making all turkeys raised for food the product of artificial insemination. Breeding hens can be artificially inseminated up to 30 times in their first laying year.
- Turkeys can live up to 10 years in the wild but are typically slaughtered as young as 12 weeks.
Slaughterhouse crimes
- At the slaughterhouse, birds are shackled upside down and supposed to be rendered unconscious by immersion in an "electrified water stun bath." But it's estimated that a quarter of all turkeys are not "stunned" properly and, as a result, are fully conscious when their throats are slit.
- To make matters worse, turkeys that are able to dodge the mechanical cutter used to slit their throats are boiled alive and conscious in the scalding tanks used for feather removal. Animal activists have been pushing for the use of inert gas during transport to the slaughterhouse.
Insult to injury
- Codes of practice for the care and handling of farm animals drawn up by the industry, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ensure humane treatment are only voluntary.
Mmm, mmm, bad
- Producers say turkey is a good source of protein, but animal rights activists point out that turkey contains no fibre or carbohydrates and has more fat and cholesterol than many cuts of beef.
The turkey alternatives
- Give up the giblets and carve out a new tradition this Thanksgiving - Tofurky Roast and UnTurkey, savory soy- and wheat-based roasts with stuffing and gravy or oven-roasted, peppered, hickory-smoked, or cranberry- and stuffing-flavored Tofurky Deli Slices. Give animals and yourself something to be really thankful for this year: