10 Things Everyone Should Know About Free-Range Turkeys
A Meat and Dairy Industries Article from All-Creatures.org
Increasingly, as consumers are becoming more aware of
the extreme cruelty of animal farming, free-range, organic and ‘natural’
animal products are gaining popularity. What many people don’t realize,
however, is that animals raised under these labels frequently suffer through
much of the same torment as those in standard factory farming operations.
Photo by
Shoeib Abolhassani on Unsplash
Over 280 million turkeys are slaughtered annually for human consumption
in the United States, despite the fact that such consumption is unnecessary
for humans and absolutely horrifying for turkeys. 45 million of those deaths
occur for the ritual of Thanksgiving alone.
Increasingly, as consumers are becoming more aware of the extreme cruelty of
animal farming, free-range, organic and ‘natural’ animal products are
gaining popularity. What many people don’t realize, however, is that animals
raised under these labels frequently suffer through much of the same torment
as those in standard factory farming operations.
- According to the USDA, the terms “free range” and “free roaming” can
be used to describe animals that “are allowed access to the outside for
51% of their lives”. There are no other requirements, including the
amount of time spent outdoors or the quality and size of the outdoor
area. For this reason, contrary to popular belief, “free-range”
facilities are generally no more than large sheds in which tens of
thousands of turkeys are crammed together on filthy, disease-ridden
floors, living in their own waste. The conditions are often so poor that
many turkeys die simply from the stress of living in such an
environment.
- Lighting is often kept dim to discourage aggression, since birds can
engage in feather plucking and even cannibalism when they become highly
stressed. Low lighting can cause reduced activity levels and result in
abnormalities in growth, such as in the eyes and legs.
- When raised for food, turkeys (even those described as free-range)
are genetically modified to grow abnormally large — often twice their
normal size — for producer profits. This genetic modification causes
severe health problems, but since turkeys are generally slaughtered five
months into their natural life span of 10 years, most are killed prior
to the heart attacks or organ failure that would otherwise occur after
six months. (This becomes apparent when genetically modified turkeys are
rescued and allowed to live out the rest of their lives in sanctuary
situations.)
- “Natural”, “free range,” and “organic” turkeys are routinely
subjected to debeaking, which is intended to prevent overcrowded birds
from pecking at each other. Debeaking involves slicing off about
one-third of a bird’s beak with a red hot blade when the turkey is
around 5 days old (or often even younger).
- To prevent cannibalism due to stressful conditions, turkeys sold
under the above labels are just as likely to be subjected to detoeing.
Detoeing is a very painful procedure which involves cutting off or
microwaving the ends of the toes of male turkeys within the first three
days of life.
- Free-range, organic and natural operations are also allowed to
practice desnooding, which consists of the cutting off of the snood (the
fleshy appendage above the beak). Desnooding is an acutely painful
procedure, and is often done with scissors, or using methods that are
too brutal to describe here.
- By the time the birds are sent to slaughter, as much as 80 per cent
of the litter on the floor of the shed is their own feces. This results
in a buildup of ammonia, causing turkeys to develop ulcerated feet and
painful burns on their legs and bodies.
- When they reach market weight, free-range turkeys generally
experience the same horrifying conditions on their way to slaughter as
does any factory-farmed individual. Workers gather these terrified birds
up to four at a time, carrying them upside down by their legs and then
throwing them into crates on multi-tiered trucks. During transport, they
are at the mercy of the elements, sometimes enduring extreme cold, and
are denied access to food or water.
- After transportation, free-range turkeys arrive at the same
slaughterhouses as turkeys from any other facility. In these places,
workers often torture the turkeys – kicking them, throwing them into
walls, and breaking their necks and bones.
- Even when turkeys are not intentionally tortured during
transportation or at the slaughterhouse, the killing process itself
would certainly be considered torture if done to a human being. The
birds are hung upside down by the legs, and dipped in an electrical bath
that is supposed to “stun” them, but often only causes convulsions and
terror. If they miss the stunning bath, their throats are slit while
they’re still conscious. Sometimes, because they are flailing around,
they miss both the bath and the blade, and end up alive in a scalding
tank designed to remove feathers.
As anyone familiar with animal sanctuary operations will tell you,
turkeys are intelligent, social beings who nurture and protect their young
and thrive in their natural habitat. Even when they are stressed and
confined in “free-range” concentration camps, they have an amazing will to
live, as do all sentient beings.
In the extremely rare cases where turkeys are raised gently in someone’s
backyard, slaughter by any method is intentional killing of the innocent and
clearly unnecessary for humans, and is therefore wrong and logically
indistinguishable from murder.
Instead of practicing the primitive ritual of making the sacrifice of a
turkey the focus of Thanksgiving dinner, consider giving thanks for all life
by having a vegan thanksgiving. Being vegan inspires a new sense of
self-esteem which comes from not contributing to the unnecessary and
heartless killing of those who simply want to live their lives, as you do.
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