ThanksGIVING?

Thanksgiving is a time when most people think about gratitude and graciousness. It is also a time when millions of turkeys are slaughtered in the name of tradition for this holiday. What do they have to be thankful for?

Turkey farm where thousands live at a time

Transportation to the slaughterhouse

Terrified turkeys prior to slaughter

Slaughter

Turkeys are sentient beings who feel and have emotions. They are every bit as feeling as dogs or cats, yet people would be horrified if those animals had to go through what turkeys endure all for the sake of a few moments of pleasure and preservation of tradition, which can be the only justifications for such violence. At the farm, and at the market, turkeys may appear to just be copies of one being, or identical products dressed up in shrink-wrap. But they are not "copies" or "products." They are sentient individuals who each experience the suffering that is inherent in the business of being exploited and slaughtered for profit.

At farm sanctuaries where these sensitive beings are not treated as commodities with market value, but are respected and loved as individuals with inherent value, and are allowed to perform their natural behaviors, their true selves shine through. Visitors at these sanctuaries learn that farm animals have distinct individual personalities who have likes and dislikes, cunningness and quirks, like any other sentient animal. Some turkeys are shy and reserved, while others are friendly and outgoing, and enjoy sitting in people's laps to be stroked.

All have a story to tell, and some scars appear physically--from deformities due to selective breeding, poor living conditions, or inflicted mutilation by farmers--or the scars are emotional, evident in the behavior of some animals, who never come to trust people, often preferring to stay isolated from everyone else, lurking around shadows and barn equipment, or who continue to display incessant pecking behavior from the stress of being intensively confined.

It is easy in our society to shut your mind from the violence that brought that meat to your plate. But it does not make it go away. Ignorance is not bliss--not to those who suffer the consequences of it. Look into the eyes of the victims of the food industry--behind each pair you will see consciousness. And these beings die, one by one, by the millions every day...For a few moments of enjoyment people get from the taste of their flesh. A sentient creature ceases to experience years of life for something so frivolous, something so selfish.

This Thanksgiving, show some graciousness to turkeys and other sentient beings. Start a new tradition of compassion, while still keeping the spirit of the holiday. Celebrate with a vegan feast. The turkeys and other animals will be thankful for it.

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Suggestions for an easy vegan Thanksgiving:

Many traditional Thanksgiving dishes and desserts can easily be veganized by using vegan alternatives to animal products like milk, cheese, butter, and eggs that are called for in recipes.

Below are some links to some vegan recipes:

http://www.mercyforanimals.org/thanksgiving_recipes.asp

http://www.vegweb.com/

http://www.vegan-food.net/

http://www.everydaydish.tv/

Turkeys enjoy a Thanksgiving meal at Farm Sanctuary

http://www.youtube.com/v/AaZvIddL5Pk

http://www.youtube.com/v/xM-iSqmJ9_4