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In his groundbreaking book Animal Liberation, philosopher and bioethicist Peter Singer defined speciesism as “a prejudice or attitude of bias in favor of the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of other species.” Now, in a new book, Consider the Turkey—out on October 22—Singer examines how this insidious mindset directly impacts gentle turkeys, millions of whom are killed for Thanksgiving alone every year.
“This small but powerful book is full of riveting facts, including some jaw-droppers. Readers will be left wondering how, if cruelty to animals is a crime (and it is), anyone can be excused for subjecting a turkey to a raft of pain and misery so that he—invariably he—can be reduced to a carcass for the carving. Consider the Turkey promises to convert many a Thanksgiving dinner into a celebration of life.”
—PETA President Ingrid Newkirk
10 Shocking Quotes From Peter Singer’s Consider the Turkey
1. “The United States is the world’s largest turkey producer and the largest exporter of turkey products.”
“In 1970, Americans ate just over 8 pounds per person annually; by 2021, that figure had nearly doubled to more than 15 pounds. In 2023, US turkey meat production for the domestic market was estimated to be a little more than 5 billion pounds a year, with another 400 million pounds exported.”
2. “Economics overrides the suffering of the turkeys, every time.”
3. “If you enter the shed, the first thing that will hit you is a burning sensation in your eyes and throat, as they react to the ammonia in the air, which in turn comes from the droppings of thousands of birds, accumulated for up to a year in the sawdust or wood shavings that cover the floor.”
“Although each batch of birds is sent to slaughter after about 3 or 4 months, in the United States, unless there is an outbreak of disease, sheds are typically only cleaned out once a year.”
4. “[If] you know how most US turkeys are conceived, you also have a way to fill those awkward silences that can occur around the Thanksgiving table.”
“Just ask the family and friends gathered together if they know how the bird they are eating was conceived. If they don’t, enlighten them. Then ask them whether ensuring that everyone can get a generous slice of turkey breast is worth breeding a misshapen bird who cannot mate, requiring poorly paid workers to spend all day masturbating male turkeys and pushing open the vaginas of female turkeys, who hate the procedure, but have no escape from it until they are sent off to be killed.”
5. “The food the animals eat frequently has to be transported long distances, and the animals use most of its nutritional value just to keep their bodies warm and hearts pumping, move around, and develop parts of their bodies that we do not eat, like bones and some internal organs.”
“The extent of this wastage varies from species to species, but for all of them, whether we are focused on calories or protein, from eating their flesh we get back less than one-third of the nutritional value of the feed we provide for them.”
6. “Removing the end of the beak of a turkey or chicken used to be known in the poultry industry as ‘debeaking,’ but in the interests of better public relations, it is now referred to as ‘beak trimming.’”
“If that term suggests that it is a simple and painless procedure, like trimming your fingernails, then once again, the industry has misled you.”
7. “Turkeys may also be mutilated in other ways.”
“[T]heir snoods may be removed because the bright red flesh may attract pecking from other birds; sometimes the long claw or spur on the back of the leg is amputated; and the wing feathers may be trimmed to prevent the birds from flying and so decreasing flightiness in the flock.”
8. “Sometimes, the birds get loose and run under the truck’s tires.”
“The workers were instructed not to go under the trucks, and the investigator could hear popping sounds when the truck moved forward. Once the truck had left, there were squashed remains of birds where it had been. We’ve seen this before: individual birds do not count. To take the time to save them just doesn’t pay.”
9. “At a plant that shackles and kills about 50,000 birds every day, [a] PETA investigator saw a worker trying to get a turkey [whose foot was stuck] out of a crate.”
“The worker simply ripped the turkey’s foot off.”
10. “The US Constitution authorizes the president to grant a pardon for a federal crime, but no one has ever suggested a crime for which the turkeys are supposedly being pardoned.”
“Presumably, that’s because turkeys don’t commit crimes. Does it make families in the United States feel better, as they chew on the corpse of one of the 46 million turkeys killed annually for Thanksgiving dinners, to know that somewhere, two of them are still alive?”
Consider These Fascinating Turkey Facts
When given a good life at a sanctuary, turkeys often follow humans around looking for treats and affection. They’ve also been known to fall asleep in people’s laps while being petted.
Turkeys are caring parents and spirited explorers who can live for up to 10 years, but humans kill those raised for food when they’re between 12 and 26 weeks old—millions each year for Thanksgiving alone.
Slaughterhouse workers hang the young birds by their feet from metal shackles and drag their bodies through an electrified bath. They’re often still conscious when workers slit their throats and dump them into scalding-hot tanks.
Skip the Turkey and Host a Vegan Thanksgiving—Here’s How
Turkeys aren’t the only animals who suffer on massive farms. Humans exploit cows, chickens, and other animals in the meat, egg, and dairy industries to produce broth, butter, and other products. These animals aren’t so different from the cats and dogs we lovingly share our homes and lives with.
Holiday traditions are comforting, but sometimes we have to get creative and find new ways of doing things. This is nothing new to vegans, who excel at improving their families’ traditions and cherished recipes by ensuring that they don’t harm animals. Most supermarkets, including Safeway and Meijer, now stock a variety of vegan options—from dairy-free butter to vegan poultry—so swapping ingredients is a snap.
