Act of thanksgiving turns horrifying for Turkeys

, Nov 29: While politician and writer Benjamin Franklin respected Turkeys for their agility, beauty, resourcefulness and intelligence, here we are in the 21st century when they are killed brutally for an occasion as pious as

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In fact their fate in factory farms is nowhere close to what they actually do or enjoy. They are considered intelligent, who like having their feathers stroked and listening to music. They are often found singing along with the music too.

In the factory farms, their life ends when they are just 5-6 months old and in this short span too they are denied the basic rights of running, nesting, raising their young and more. Like chickens, they are not offered any federal legal protection. Thanksgiving witnesses 45 million Turkeys being slaughtered and Christmas sees 22 million of them dead.

Their life in the darkness of the farmhouse ends with brutal slaughter, which includes hitting them alive with wooden plants, slitting their necks or even skinning them alive. Per bird, there is less than 3.5 square feet of space. Cross bred to make them grow as fast as possible, they sometimes get crippled under their own weight.

The captive birds are avoided from clawing each other and in order to do that their toes and upper beaks are often cut off with hot blades and the male are often de-snood, without giving them any pain relievers.

The birds that signify the values of love and compassion ends in ignominy, that too with brutality.

OneIndia News