The Thanksgiving Dinner That Sits, Stays, and Speaks

Do you know folks who eat turkey breast? What about terrier breast?

A new billboard that PETA plans to place in London, Ontario, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, in time for Canada’s Thanksgiving holiday asks people to consider how they would feel if it were Fido in the center of the table instead of Tom:

Like dogs, turkeys are social and playful and enjoy the company of humans. They are highly curious, scouting out new sights and smells. They enjoy having their feathers stroked, remember people’s faces, and will even come running when they spot a favorite human. Turkeys are also devoted, loving parents. In nature, chicks may stay with their mothers for up to a year.

They’re only 5 or 6 months old when they are shipped to the slaughterhouse, where their legs are slammed into shackles, they are dragged through a “stunning tank” that immobilizes but doesn’t kill them, and their throats are slit.

If we wouldn’t pay farms and slaughterhouses to torment and kill dogs like this, how can we pay to have it done to turkeys?