Finish and penalize the killing of turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Consumers in the United States, became more obese and more prone to serious illnesses by participating in the massive massacre of turkeys that did not even have the opportunity to live natural lives. Having bought and consumed "organic" turkeys has no excuse as well, although many people think it is a lesser evil, so far I do not know any "organic" slaughterhouse where the animals have not been abused since they were hauled in narrow cages until they were cut off. neck to serve them at tables where people should express "gratitude" for the gifts received during the year.

This custom of the well-worn Thanksgiving Day is not only an ominous day for the animals but also for Native Americans who suffered similar abuse and cruelty. On a day when thanksgiving is given for those things that enrich life, the systematic slaughter of animals does not take place. The same racism demonstrated by the ungrateful colonists who considered the natives as "talking beasts" translates nowadays into speciesism against the animals that are consumed all over the world to celebrate the "holidays" of the end of the year that do not they are something other than the grosser representation of an illogical and unnecessary consumerism.

The myth of Thanksgiving, served with spoonfuls of European superiority, simply does not work for many people in the United States in the same way that species abuse can not be accepted by those who say they love, value or respect animals.

Only in the United States, where there are strict regulations in all government areas, are the facts:

Three hundred million turkeys are killed during the celebrations of Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Baby turkeys are placed in incubators where they will never see their mothers.

Then they will be moved to unventilated industrial farms where they will spend the rest of their short lives at the mercy of the abuses of cruel workers.

To prevent them from fighting among themselves, they will cut part of their fingers and spikes without any anesthesia.

They will be raised, drugged and genetically manipulated so that they grow unnaturally and as quickly as possible to the point of not being able to support the weight of their bodies with the consequent breaking of their legs.

In 1970 the average weight of a turkey raised for consumption was 17 pounds (7 kilos). Currently, the average weight is 28 pounds (13 kilos).

The turkeys are sent to the slaughterhouse at 5 months of age. In their natural free state they could live up to 10 years.

When arriving at the slaughterhouse they are hung of head which often produces the breaking of its legs.

They submerge their heads in electrified water before cutting their necks and then they are thrown into large pots of boiling water to remove their feathers.

Many of those who survived the electric shock die alive boiled.

Is this something worth celebrating, thanks or family union?

Turkeys are intelligent, sensitive and highly sociable animals. They are able to create deep affective bonds between them and are as loving as dogs. They can produce more than 20 different vocalizations and each one has its own voice.

And even, in our Latin American culture, they were considered sacred animals by the Mayans, Aztecs and Toltecs, who called them "the great Xolotl".

Turkeys are animals capable of expressing and having feelings like other living creatures. If you respect them or consider them, do not make them part of your meals at these end of the year parties. Do you have any doubt about your feelings and your right to enjoy life? Watch these videos that are not graphic or terrible; on the contrary, they clearly show you that all being able to feel has the capacity and the right to enjoy life.

This matter of the famous Thanksgiving is one of the most depressing and disastrous days for me. Not only for the cruel extermination of thousands of turkeys but also for the cultural and historical aspect that assures my conscience that the cruelty imposed on Native Americans is not rationally worth celebrating either. However, living in a plastic and consumer society that is dull of the suffering flesh of a being able to feel and then fight like beasts for the immediate offer of a TV made in China, is something that I have to live with, the moment.

What was it? Luck, chance, fate, strategy, cunning? I do not really know, but the truth is that this turkey managed to be the only survivor of the mass slaughter that preceded his release. Someone called a local shelter to let them know that she was the only survivor of the massacre, of which those wide spaces filled with turkeys, minutes before, were witnesses.

Give thanks for clogged arteries, for an increase in cholesterol, for an increase in the possibility of suffering from deadly diseases, for bursting a scale and above all, for being a direct accomplice of the torture and suffering of thousands of birds, does not have the least sense. But inside the chaos and the sadness, I see a light that is not extinguished. The symbolized hope is this brave and resilient turkey who did not want to die to give me hope. I do not know if she hid herself, if they did not see her, if she ran or pretended to be dead before the eyes of the unfortunate cowards who came to pick her up; the important thing is that now it will be alive and that it will exist in this world to fulfill its maximum purpose: to live in peace.

I give thanks then, for her. For my fellow activists worldwide who do not stop fighting despite all the pitfalls that are presented to us; for my mother, who at 83 years old continues to promote vegetarianism in her corner of the world; for my niece who continues to devise and prepare tasty vegan recipes to celebrate the holidays; by my lifelong friends who veganize all our encounters; for those who respect me enough not to serve any corpse in front of me, and for all those who are seriously and consequently going through the transition of leaving behind the cruelty that hides at their tables.

One of these days my gratitude will be total ...

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