November 25, 2009
Thankful, Courageous Birds
Thanksgiving means sanctuary for a lucky few turkeys and humane feasts to help many more
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This beautiful bird enjoys sunshine and shade at Black Beauty Ranch. Kathy Milani/The HSUS
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Turkeys feel pleasure and pain—and would relish a Thanksgiving dinner of fresh fruit. Fotolia
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The rescued turkeys at Black Beauty breathe fresh air and scratch in the grass. Kathy Milani/The HSUS
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Tom turkeys proudly display their fine feathers. Photos.com
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"Bird of courage." It's said that Benjamin Franklin preferred the turkey to the eagle for our national bird. Kathy Milani/The HSUS
Thanksgiving is hardly a time at which most turkeys can be grateful. Yet for the lucky turkeys at The HSUS' Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, every day brings a fresh reason to give thanks—and due to our evolving food choices that increasingly include vegetarian feasts, this Thanksgiving brings more hope for these rescued animals' factory-farmed brethren than ever before.
Birds on the Range
Fourteen turkeys are fortunate enough to call Black Beauty, The HSUS' sprawling 1,200-acre Texas sanctuary, home. Rescued from a hoarder situation nearly three years ago, these birds are now between three and seven years old. They enjoy exploring their pasture, dust bathing, bickering over bugs, stretching their wings, and napping in the soft grass.
The turkeys occupy a barn and two spacious outdoor yards, and they've got some pretty unusual friends. One of the birds' pastures faces the airy chimpanzee enclosure, and the other adjoins a pasture where a zebra, camel, addax, and eland roam in the Texas sunshine.
Stark Contrast
It's an easy existence to be sure, and it's a far cry from the fate of the tens of millions of turkeys raised on factory farms.
These birds endure a bleak existence, one often filled with suffering due to health problems and ended by slaughter where they have virtually no protection from even the very modest requirements of the federal Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.
Mainstream Meals
But things are indeed changing for the birds who historically have been viewed as nothing more than a meal. This Thanksgiving, Martha Stewart is eating a vegetarian spread. The New York Times is celebrating the holiday with a vegetarian blog. And CNN is covering the astounding array of vegetarian foods available.
This high-profile exposure is just one more piece of evidence that meatless meals—whether enjoyed at a restaurant or cooked at home—are fast becoming a tradition.
Whether we're hosting vegetarians at our gatherings or simply looking to celebrate with healthier and more humane recipes, there's never been a better time to join the growing number of American families who are indulging humanely this holiday season.