Boy Accidentally Maimed in New PETA Video

Group’s Cutting-Edge Animated Short Follows One Boy on His Harrowing Misadventure Alongside Turkeys

For Immediate Release:
November 14, 2013

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

When a boy accidentally takes the place of a turkey on his way to slaughter, the result is a shocking, gory journey through today’s meat industry—and it’s all brought to life in a cutting-edge new animated video short from PETA, which arrives just in time for Thanksgiving. Titled “Thanks!” the video accompanies the young boy as he’s maimed, drugged, scalded, and electrocuted, just as more than 45 million turkeys are every year for Thanksgiving dinners.

“While the boy in PETA’s video escapes a grisly end, millions of turkeys this year won’t be as fortunate,” says PETA Executive Vice President and mother Tracy Reiman. “But we can give turkeys a reason to be thankful—all we have to do is choose delicious vegan meals for Thanksgiving and every day.”

A human boy and a turkey have a great deal in common: Turkeys are intelligent, social beings who enjoy listening to music. Younger turkeys bond very closely with their parents and will typically stay with their mothers for the first five months of their lives. Turkeys are also spirited explorers who love to climb trees and run.

Turkeys killed for food are crammed into dark and filthy warehouses, have portions of their beaks and toes cut off, and are drugged and bred to grow such unnaturally large upper bodies that their legs often become crippled under the weight. At slaughterhouses, they’re hung upside down and their heads are run through an electrified bath that immobilizes them but doesn’t render them unconscious. Many are still fully aware and able to feel pain when their throats are slit and they’re plunged into a scalding-hot defeathering tank.

The cutting-edge animation in “Thanks!” is the result of a collaboration among PETA, creative-services agency Cutter, and visual production company Big Machine, with original music composed by Andrea Saparoff.

For more information and free vegan Thanksgiving recipes, please visit PETA.org.