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Turkey is a popular meal choice for many people during this festive period, but did you know that turkeys are one of the most abused land animals on the planet?

The holiday season is fast approaching, and everyone is getting into the spirit of sharing thanks, gifts, and delicious food with their loved ones. Turkey is a popular meal choice for many people during this festive period, but did you know that turkeys are one of the most abused land animals on this planet?

The sad reality of Thanksgiving turkey

Birds are the most abused land animals on the planet; chickens, turkeys and ducks are killed in alarming numbers – for Thanksgiving alone, more than 45 million turkeys are killed each year.

Turkeys are sentient, loving creatures like all animals, but are seen almost as a “man-made” product because every aspect of their lives has been altered by humans – the commercial bird cannot even breed naturally anymore, as modern breeding has given them a breast far too large to allow natural mating, and their fragile legs often break under their own weight without the added stress of a mate on top. Thus, the modern turkey is artificially inseminated, using a restraining device to keep them still, and from the moment they hatch they have their beaks and toes burnt off using a hot blade in a standard industry practice known as “debeaking” and ‘”detoeing,” before being crammed into dark buildings, surrounded by as many as 10,000 other sick and crippled birds.

This existence lasts for around three to five months, whenever the birds reach optimum weight, where they are packed off into trucks and taken to slaughter. Their short lives are devoid of anything happy, and the stress, close proximity to other birds, coupled with other unpleasant factors such as sickness, boredom, and fear, result in many birds dying before they ever reach the slaughterhouse, or suffering serious injury especially to their delicate legs and wings.

This is truly a horrible life for any animal no matter what the “justification” might be, but the fact that this happens to so many birds just for one day a year seems even more absurdly cruel. It is no wonder that so many people have decided to opt for more animal-friendly celebrations, and there are so many to choose from!

After all, if Thanksgiving is about celebrating life, what could be better than honouring the life of our beloved animal friends, and maybe even starting a new tradition or two in the process?

Original source: https://www.onegreenplanet.org