Tickets, Turkeys—or Tofurkys? PETA Offers Vegan Roasts for Police to Give Away

West Liberty Police Department Could Serve Meat-Free Entrées and Protect Residents’ Health and Animals

For Immediate Release:
December 14, 2017

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

Following reports that the West Liberty Police Department recently passed out vouchers for turkeys to motorists in lieu of traffic tickets, PETA sent a letter today offering to donate vegan roasts for the department to give away instead.

In the letter, PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that vegan roasts, which are free of saturated animal fat and cholesterol, will especially appeal to those who don’t eat meat for religious, ethical, or environmental reasons. PETA has previously partnered with the Billings, Montana, and Fort Worth, Texas, police departments for similar Tofurky giveaways.

“More and more Americans are choosing to celebrate the holidays with a healthy, humane vegan roast instead of the corpse of a sensitive bird who didn’t want to die,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “By gobbling up PETA’s offer of delicious Tofurkys, the West Liberty Police Department can help the community keep cruelty off the table this holiday season.”

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to Sgt. Dave Lira of the West Liberty Police Department follows.

December 14, 2017

Dave Lira

Sergeant

West Liberty Police Department

Dear Sergeant Lira,

I’m writing on behalf of PETA and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide—including many across Iowa—in response to reports that the West Liberty Police Department was handing out vouchers for turkeys instead of traffic tickets to motorists. I’d like to make an offer that would really give Iowans something to be thankful for this winter: We’d like to help you serve up a vegan dinner and protect residents’ health by donating delicious cholesterol-free Tofurkys and other vegan roasts for you to hand out to the community—including to those who don’t eat meat for religious or environmental reasons or because they know how cruel factory farming and the slaughter of turkeys really are.

Turkeys are smart, sensitive birds who have been known to enjoy clucking along to music and love to have their feathers stroked. In nature, babies stay with their mothers for up to five months, and they like to eat meals together as a family, much as humans do during the holiday season. But in today’s slaughterhouses, fully conscious turkeys are shackled upside down and their heads are dragged through an electrified stun bath, which shoots currents through their bodies, causing spasms, burns, and fractures. Many birds are stunned improperly and are still conscious when their throats are cut and they’re immersed in scalding-hot water to remove their feathers.

The holidays are about appreciation and kindness, and many traditional holiday foods are vegan. Since 2014, vegan eating has grown by 500 percent. Since 6 percent of Americans identify as vegan and millions now enjoy a compassionate, meat-free holiday for a variety of reasons, it makes sense to give turkeys arrest.

Earlier this year, we partnered with the Billings Police Department for a similar effort, and it was well received by many Montanans. We hope to hear that you’ll gobble up our offer. If so, please let me know where we can send the vegan roasts. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Tracy Reiman
Executive Vice President