Hi John,

If you’re seeing your family or friends today, here are some surprising facts about turkeys you can share with them to help them rethink Thanksgiving.  

1. Turkeys are intelligent, social, and fun-loving individuals. They are skilled at geographical memory and can remember the details of up to 1,000 acres of land. Wild turkeys can run at high speeds up to 25 miles per hour and fly at speeds up to 55 miles per hour! And they love scratches, just like our companion animals.  

2. Male turkeys have their semen sucked out with a straw and the females are artificially inseminated. Turkeys have been selectively bred to grow so large that they are no longer able to mate naturally. Workers strap male turkeys down to steal their semen and forcibly impregnate female turkeys, and this abuse is what allows the industry to continue. 

3. Each year for Thanksgiving alone, 46 million of these beautiful individuals are slaughtered at around 5 months old. That’s right. The turkeys at the store are just babies. Let your friends and family members know that whatever “humane” or “organic” labels they see on these turkeys, they are just 5 month-olds who had their lives cut short to be one of 46 million turkeys killed for a single "holiday."

Thanksgiving is founded upon historical violence and it continues to perpetuate violence today, but we can help change this tradition by spreading the truth. I hope you’ll share this info with someone today. 

You can also show them this short, sarcastic video I made with more info about the horrific things that happen to turkeys before they end up in the grocery store. And here's a video about our recent turkey rescue that shows the progress we are already making!

Thanks for speaking up for animals.

Cassie