I know no one wants to hear about animal abuses. I mean, I don’t! But when I do hear about it, it eats at me, making me sick to my stomach that these terrible things happen so frequently. When I ask myself how this can happen, I realize it’s because no one knows about it. Everyone wants to believe that turkeys live their happy little lives until they are humanely killed. OR, no one wants to connect their Thanksgiving meal to an industry that is unbelievably cruel to animals. PETA just documented the following.
While working at a series of Aviagen factory farms in West Virginia, PETA's investigator documented that workers tortured, mutilated, and maliciously killed turkeys. The following are just a few of the documented offenses:
- Employees stomped on turkeys' heads, punched turkeys, hit them on the head with a can of spray paint and pliers, and struck turkeys' heads against metal scaffolding.
- Men shoved feces and feed into turkeys' mouths and held turkeys' heads under water. Another bragged about jamming a broom stick 2 feet down a turkey's throat.
- A supervisor said he saw workers kill 450 turkeys with 2-by-4s.
- One man said he saw a coworker fatally inject turkey semen and sulfuric acid into turkeys' heads.
Think turkeys don’t care about all this? Here are some interesting facts about turkeys from PETA’s website:
Many people think of turkeys as little more than a holiday centerpiece, but turkeys are social, playful birds who enjoy the company of others. They relish having their feathers stroked and like to chirp, cluck, and gobble along to their favorite tunes. Anyone who spends time with them on farm sanctuaries quickly learns that turkeys are as varied in personality as dogs and cats.
