REFLECTIONS ON THANKSGIVING, 2015
“Cruelty to animals is as if man
did not love God.”
~ Cardinal John Henry Newman
~ Cardinal John Henry Newman
Thanksgiving
is a difficult time for vegans. We love
a good feast with family and friends as much as the next person, but the great fuss made over the
turkey is hard to take. We know that
more than 46 million birds will die for Thanksgiving. We know that nearly all of them come from
factory farms, where they have been bred to be mere caricatures of the birds
God created, with breasts so big they cannot mate naturally and with such a
fast growth rate that they often suffer serious leg and joint problems. They have often had their beaks and toes cut
off without anesthesia to keep them from harming other birds due to the
overcrowded, stressful, and dirty conditions in which they live. We know that as birds, under US law, they are
not even afforded the minimal protections of the Humane Methods of Slaughter
Act in the slaughter process. And we
know that the slaughter process is terrifying and often badly done, resulting
in significant suffering. We know that
year after year, investigations of turkey farms have revealed horrific
treatment of these gentle birds, even when they are supposed to have been “humanely raised.”
We also know that turkeys, when allowed to live in peace, are intelligent, social, affectionate birds, that they are loved by the God who created them, and that their suffering matters. It
is extremely difficult for us to understand, therefore, how participating in cruelty toward them
can in any way, shape, or form be related to giving thanks to God for His great
mercies toward us.
Wild turkey |
Butterball turkey, photo by Mercy For Animals |