PETA to Redblacks: Have a Turkey-Free ThanksVegan Feast on Us!

For Immediate Release:
October 8, 2021

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

Marcel Desjardins, general manager of the Ottawa Redblacks, has scored an offer from PETA: a protein-packed vegan holiday feast, delivered by the group, for the team to enjoy after it faces off against the Montréal Alouettes on Monday.

The proposal is part of PETA’s nationwide ThanksVegan campaign, which asks everyone to give turkeys a break this holiday by choosing animal-friendly foods, and the group has enlisted Sobeys, Save-On-Foods, Buy-Low Foods, IGA, and other major grocery chains across Canada to showcase their ready-to-roast vegan turkeys and other vegan holiday fare.

“When people realize that turkeys love their families, feel pain and fear, and value their lives, they’re eager to put a vegan turkey on the table,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Win or lose, the Redblacks could celebrate kindness to gentle birds by enjoying a delicious ThanksVegan meal, courtesy of PETA.”

Turkeys can live up to 10 years, but those raised for food are usually slaughtered when they’re babies—between 12 and 26 weeks old—and millions are killed each year for Thanksgiving in Canada alone. The young birds are hung by their feet from metal shackles and dragged through an electrified bath, and they’re often still conscious when their throats are slit and they’re dumped into scalding-hot defeathering tanks.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. Everyone can find delectable holiday recipes by ordering one of PETA’s ultimate Canadian ThanksVegan guides. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.