In his recent book, Peter Singer exposes the systematic torment inflicted on tens of millions of Thanksgiving turkeys each year. Most of these turkeys are factory-farmed, subjected to conditions so grotesque they’re hard to comprehend. For anyone who has spent time learning about factory farming, the truth is often worse than imagined.
Consider this shocking description:
Genetic Engineering Gone Wrong
The turkey industry has genetically manipulated turkeys to grow abnormally large—up to 41 pounds by four months of age, compared to just 8 pounds for wild turkeys of the same age. These birds are so unnaturally large that they are physically incapable of mating.
To overcome this, the industry employs a process clinically referred to as “artificial insemination.” In practice, this means forcibly masturbating male turkeys to collect semen, then restraining female turkeys to inject the semen into them. Workers report that the process is traumatic for both the turkeys and the humans involved.
The Starvation of Breeding Turkeys
Parent turkeys, used for breeding, are systematically starved to prevent them from becoming even more obese than their offspring. These turkeys are fed only half the food they need, leaving them perpetually hungry, searching in vain for sustenance.
The Cruel Lives of Meat-Bound Turkeys
Turkeys raised for meat endure even more horrific conditions:
Debeaking and Mutilation: Their beaks, filled with nerve endings, are sliced off, along with other painful mutilations like removing their snoods and claw spurs.
Cramped, Filthy Sheds: Turkeys spend their lives confined to overcrowded sheds, lying in acidic feces that burn their skin and cause constant pain.
Electric Shocks: Turkeys attempt to perch as they would in nature, but electric wires around feeding and water lines deliver severe shocks to prevent this behavior.
Death and Slaughter
When it comes time for slaughter, the turkeys are meant to be stunned unconscious before their throats are slit. However, in the U.S., stunning isn’t required, so many turkeys are slaughtered while fully conscious.
Even worse, during bird flu outbreaks, turkeys are often killed en masse using a process called ventilation shutdown. This involves sealing the barn and pumping in steam, suffocating and roasting the turkeys alive—a method described as one of the most inhumane practices imaginable.
Why Opt Out of Turkey This Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving turkeys are the result of a process we’d unequivocally call sexual assault if inflicted on humans. These birds are bred into deformed, oversized bodies, mutilated, starved, and tortured in cramped, dark sheds. Their short lives are filled with pain, culminating in a death that is often as cruel as their lives.
Turkey may taste good, but it’s not worth the suffering. This Thanksgiving, choose compassion. Opt out of contributing to an industry built on unimaginable cruelty.
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