Turkey’s Thanksgiving Plea: ‘You Can Live Without That Turkey Leg—I Can’t’
New PETA Billboard in Top Turkey-Producing State Urges People to Opt for Lifesaving, Animal-Free Holiday Feast
For Immediate Release:
November 13, 2018
Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382
Ahead of Thanksgiving, PETA has placed a billboard in Minneapolis showing a turkey’s face alongside the words “You Can Live Without That Turkey Leg. I Can’t. Go Vegan This Thanksgiving.” The ad is part of a series of similar ones being placed in cities across the U.S. leading up to Thanksgiving, including inside airports in Rapid City, South Dakota, and Akron, Ohio, as well as on billboards in Denver, Boston, Las Vegas, Houston, and Fort Myers, Florida.
The Minneapolis billboard is located on Central Avenue S.E. north of S.E. Fourth Street, facing southwest, and will be in place for four weeks.
“We hope this billboard will inspire people to consider who turkeys really are—gentle young birds who don’t deserve to be strung upside down and slaughtered for a fleeting taste,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is calling on every kind soul to explore vegan dishes this Thanksgiving and celebrate life.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—notes that at least 44 million turkeys are killed in the U.S. each year for Thanksgiving and that 244.5 million were killed in total in 2017. In nature, turkeys are protective and loving parents as well as spirited explorers who can climb trees and run as fast as 25 mph. Turkeys in the wild can live up to 10 years, but those raised for food are normally slaughtered at 5 months old. The young birds are hung by their feet from metal shackles and dragged through an electrified bath. They’re often still conscious when their throats are slit and they’re dumped into scalding-hot water to remove their feathers.
PETA encourages everyone to celebrate Thanksgiving by taking its vegan “persuasion pledge“—and for every 100 people who do so, PETA pledges in turn to donate a delicious vegan dinner to a charity working with underserved families.
PETA offers a free vegan starter kit on its website as well as tips for a turkey-free, vegan Thanksgiving here, here, and here. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
