As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday 22 November 2012

PETA to Obama: Turkey pardon ceremony is for the birds


In what has become a Thanksgiving tradition, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking for an end to a Thanksgiving tradition.

On Tuesday, PETA sent a letter to President Obama asking him to skip the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon, a tradition that dates back to Abraham Lincoln. The letter sent by PETA president Ingrid Newkirk said the ceremony “makes light of the mass slaughter of some 46 million gentle, intelligent birds” and “portrays the United States president as being in some sort of business partnership with the turkey-killing industry.”

“We usually ask for other things, but this is the first time we have asked (the president) to give the ceremony a rest,’’ Newkirk told TODAY.com. “I think it’s just been building. The time has come. It’s hard to find anybody who supports the idea of factory farming, and there have been so many reports this year of the environmental effects of factory farming. To have a president who is supposed to be progressive standing there with an industry representative of factory farming knowing about these environmental issues, it’s not very green to welcome him to the White House and endorse factory farms.’’


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