Following graphic undercover footage obtained by MFA – showing workers throwing, kicking, dragging, and beating turkeys, as well as birds suffering from bloody open wounds and infections – the Hoke County Sheriff’s Department raided a Butterball factory farm facility in Shannon, North Carolina, early Thursday morning.

The undercover footage recorded at Butterballreveals:

• Workers violently kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their fragile wings and necks, and maliciously throwing turkeys onto the ground or into transport trucks in full view of company management;
• Employees bashing in the heads of live birds with metal bars, leaving many to slowly suffer and die from their injuries;
• Turkeys covered in flies, living in their own waste, unable to access food or water and suffering from severe feather loss and necrotic (dead) muscles and skin;
• Birds suffering from serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, rotting eyes, and broken bones; and
• Severely injured turkeys, unable to stand up or walk, left to die without any veterinary care, because treating sick or injured birds was too costly and time consuming, as the farm manager explained to MFA’s investigator.

After viewing the undercover video,veterinarian Dr. Debra Teachout said, “A culture of blatant and severe animalmistreatment has been allowed to flourish unchecked [at Butterball], and for that reason, this facility should be shut down immediately.”

As this investigation illustrates, the lives of turkeys in Butterball’s factory farms are brutal and filled with fear, violence and prolonged suffering. While wild turkeys are sleek, agile and able to fly, Butterball’s turkeys have been selectively bred to grow so large, so quickly, that many of them suffer from painful bone defects, hip joint lesions, crippling foot and leg deformities,and fatal heart attacks. Due to the company’s lack of meaningful animal welfare policies, training or procedures, Butterball subjects countless turkeys to immeasurable cruelty and neglect each year.

“Butterball is guilty of extreme animal abuse and should be held criminally accountable,” said MFA’s Executive Director Nathan Runkle. “Before ending up in restaurants and grocery stores, our investigation shows turkeys killed for Butterball are routinely crowded intofilthy warehouses, neglected to die from festering, bloody wounds, and thrown, kicked, and beaten by factory farm workers.”

To view the undercover video and see what you can do about it, visit ButterballAbuse.com.

But I think it’s better to plan ahead.

With Thanksgiving fast approaching here is a collection of recipes suitable for a terrific vegan Thanksgiving so no one has to “wing it.” Leave those wings alone and enjoy a fabulous feast of vegan food:

(info on the turkey image is here >>)

Cookbook reviews: The Veganopolis Cookbook, Venturesome Vegan Cooking, and Vegan Baking Classics. Read the reviews here >>

Glee star Lea Michele talks about veganism in Harper’s Bazaar. See the article and accomanying photo-shoot video here >>

Ellen has a new website dedicated to all things vegan. The site offers tips like “Soy milk is delicious, but there are also great almond and rice milks worth trying” and “Middle Eastern and Asian cuisine restaurants often have more vegan options on their menu and can be accommodating by using tofu or vegetables instead of meat.” Check it out at http://vegan.ellen.warnerbros.com/

A vegetarian won Germany’s Strongest Man 2011 competition. You can read an article about him at The Discerning Brute >>

This isn’t new news, but it’s still a helpful resource for vegans and nonvegans alike: the USDA offers 10 tips to how to add more veggies to your diet. The tips come in a handy one-page PDF that you can print out and tape to the fridge. Check it out here >>

More vegan dining options to come! The University of North Texas will open the nation’s first strictly vegan cafeteria soon. Read the details here >>

Michael Greger, M.D. has a new website dedicated to helping people learn about vegetarian and vegan nutrition. The website is NutritionFacts.org and you should check it out! Then share it with your veg and nonveg friends!

PaleoVeganology comments about genetic research and engineering: “frivolous at best, cruel at worst.” Read about chickens and fish here >>

CNN has a great article and video about Bill Clinton’s transformation to a plant-based diet. It says “Former President Clinton now considers himself a vegan. He’s dropped more than 20 pounds, and he says he’s healthier than ever. His dramatic dietary transformation took almost two decades and came about only after a pair of heart procedures and some advice from a trusted doctor.” Read the piece here >>

Another pet store made the switch from selling breeder’s dogs to encouraging adoptions of rescued dogs. “PJ’s Pets and Pets Unlimited have announced that they will no longer sell puppies in any of their stores. As of September 1st, their focus will be to support pet adoption services in an effort to find homes for thousands of pets in local SPCA’s, Humane Societies, rescue groups and shelters across the country.” See the press release here >>

HRC reports that “more than 9 billion land-based farm animals are slaughtered for food annually” and “an estimated 3.5 million cats and dogs were killed in animal shelters in 2010.” See the other stats here >>

Check out this blog on different speciesist positions >>

Looking to lose weight without deprivation? Check out this post about “the easiest diet plan” at Girly Girl Army >>

The LA Times reports that “More than 70 people in 26 states have fallen ill, and a Californian has died. Officials say the strain of salmonella is resistant to drugs.” Learn more about this huge turkey recall >>

See some examples of what real vegans eat at the Cafe VegNews blog here >>

Got more veg links to share? Add them in the comments below!

Turkeys are drugged and bred to grow so large, so quickly that their legs are often unable to withstand their own weight. Countless birds slowly starve to death within inches of food after they become crippled and are unable to move.

An open letter to anyone using the phrase “Happy Turkey Day”:

To whom it may concern:

More than 300 million turkeys are killed in the U.S. every year. 40 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving dinners alone. Today’s farmed turkeys, who have been bred to such extremes that they can no longer reproduce sexually, are overcrowded by the thousands into ammonia-laden sheds where disease spreads quickly. The birds often cannot spread or flap their wings and most will never see sunlight or breathe fresh air, except on their way to the slaughterhouse. A t the slaughterhouse, turkeys are roughly snapped into moving shackles and have their throats slit by a spinning blade, often while fully conscious.

Turkeys are excluded from the federal Animal Welfare Act and Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. Without any legal protection from cruelty, turkeys face institutionalized and rampant abuse that would warrant felony cruelty charges if the victims were cats or dogs.

Thanksgiving day is not a happy day for turkeys. Nor is the day a happy one for animal lovers who don’t discriminate by caring only for cats and dogs. Please reconsider your phrase “Happy Turkey Day.” Please consider simply saying “Happy Thanksgiving” instead. And if you consider yourself an animal lover, please remember that when choosing your Thanksgiving menu.

Sincerely,
Elaine Vigneault
Animal Lover

The inspiration for this letter:

• An email I received from a local animal shelter with the subject line “Our Shelter Animals wish you a Happy Turkey Day!“
• MFA Turkey Slaughterhouse Investigation
• Some lines above are “borrowed” from MFA
• PETA Minnesota Turkey Farm
• Our Hen HouseEpisode 45: “Now I can look at you in peace…”
• HSUS Inhumane Treatment at Turkey Industry’s Largest Hatchery

Image above from MFA’s newest billboard campaign. Details here >>

1.
What does Alicia Silverstone eat for Gentle Thanksgiving? Check out the recpies she recommends!
Gentle Thanksgiving recipes: http://www.gentlethanksgiving.org/guide/recipes.htm

2.
Surprise your guests at the dinner with a new tradition. Enjoy a vegan holiday feast.
PETA Thanksgiving recipes: http://www.vegcooking.com/f_holiday_cooking.asp

3.

Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes from MFA.
Mercy For Animals Thanksgiving recipes: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/thanksgiving_recipes.asp

In an undercover investigation, workers at Willmar Poultry Company, the country’s largest turkey hatchery, are shown handling baby turkeys roughly and without care. This is the investigator’s account of what really happens to turkeys once they’re hatched.

Just in time for Thanksgiving – For everyone who loves TURKEY, here is a recipe for success when planning your Thanksgiving dinner.
Created by Ciddy Fonteboa and Gabriel Sabloff

The casino in Vegas, that is. I parked my car at the Monte Carlo and walked across the Las Vegas Strip to the corner where a couple of “Pilgrims” stood.

PETA volunteers dressed as Pilgrims, that is.

That’s a picture of Hayden from PETA holding a sign that reads “Gobble Veggies Not Turkeys.”

They were handing out free Tofurky to tourists. I spent some time holding one of their signs and handing out leaflets about turkeys.

Then I headed home with a Tofurky under my arm. I let it defrost during the afternoon as I watched Glee and Raising Hope on Hulu. In the evening I unwrapped it, surrounded it with chopped onion, garlic, yam, potato, and carrots, doused it with a bit of tamari and water, laid some fresh thyme and sage atop the veggies, and roasted my Tofurky for an hour.

The aromas filled the house and made me hungry. When the buzzer rang I pulled it from the oven and it was perfect! I sliced off a piece, grabbed some veggies and dug in.

Soooo good!!!

*Photos taken with iphone camera. Sorry I don’t have a better camera to use for such things.