Is it just us, or is there something deeply ludicrous and horrific about the tradition of the President “pardoning” one turkey from slaughter while millions of others are not spared their grisly deaths? So, while in the public eye, we have our current President encouraging mindless voting forums on social media that select which innocent individual is somehow “deserving” of not having his throat slit. And finally, when the ridiculous farce of a decision is made and the White House actually spends time and money to make a ceremony of it, the President makes a remark like, “I was ready to eat this sucker.” while sitting down later and devouring a different slaughtered turkey with his family anyway?

The only ones being suckered here is the American public that is being asked to buy this sham which is completely lacking in compassion, respect, and critical thinking.

On factory farms (where 99% of all farmed animals in the U.S. are raised), turkeys are forced to endure months in sheds where they are so tightly shoved and confined, that even flapping one wing or stretching a leg is close to impossible. These individuals are made to stand in their own waste and urine as ammonia fumes fill the air, burning their eyes and lungs. They are also forced to stand among the rotting dead bodies of friends and family-those who could not withstand the conditions. At the slaughterhouse, where 100% of all turkeys sold for their flesh are sent, they often have their throats slit while hanging upside down and still conscious. Turkeys who miss the knife due to the fast line speed are scalded alive in the de-feathering tank.

You would think it would end there, but it doesn’t. The intensive animal agriculture industry has also been exposed by Human Rights Watch for being guilty of some of the worst human rights crimes in our country. In its 185-page exposé on worker exploitation by the farmed-animal industry, “Blood, Sweat, and Fear: Workers’ Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants,” Human Rights Watch explains: “These are not occasional lapses by employers paying insufficient attention to modern human resources management policies. These are systematic human rights violations embedded in meat and poultry industry employment.”

If you’d like to share this Human Rights Watch exposé with unknowing friends or family who can sometimes throw the argument ‘’You only care about animals” please show them this.

Any tradition which puts money in the pockets of a multi-billion dollar industry which has been exposed for its heinous animal and human rights crimes should be questioned, especially when that tradition in question is called Thanksgiving, a holiday which is supposed to encourage acknowledgement and kindness.

If you are new to this knowledge and no longer wish to fund industries that abuse animals and humans, please download our free electronic Vegan Starter Kit here.

If you’d like to carve out a new tradition this Thanksgiving, check out some of these delicious cruelty-free Thanksgiving recipe ideas here.

If you don’t have time or would simply prefer to relax and purchase a cruelty free alternative, we highly recommend Tofurky, which is conveniently available at Safeway, Woodman’s, the Food Emporium and more. Click here for a full list of store locations.

At IDA, we are grateful for each and every one of you who acknowledges the suffering of animals and who does not contribute to it by purchasing animal products.