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Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, N.Y., started an online petition, asking the president to let the national turkeys find homes in their turkey shelter instead of in the Magic Kingdom, Mother Nature Network reports.
"Historically these turkeys have been actually sent to farms where they're supposed to live out their lives, but they don't live very long lives," Farm Sanctuary president and co-founder Gene Baur told Slashfood.
"At Disneyland they don't' know how to properly care for them, and they feed them in such a way that they become overweight, which is what typically happens to these birds," he said. "We're hoping the president will send them to Farm Sanctuary where they will get the best care possible."
Since 2005 the national turkeys have found homes in Disneyland's Frontierland and have served as grand masters of the park's Thanksgiving Day parade.
At least half of the turkeys that have been sent to Disneyland, however, have died within one year of arrival, Farm Sanctuary told MMN. Disney did not respond to Slashfood's request for comment.
"These birds have been genetically bred to grow very fast and very large. Its common for them to die of a heart attack at just a year old or even younger sometimes," Baur said. "To prevent that you need to feed them a high-fiber diet that provides them with nutrients but that won't make them put on weight."
Farm Sanctuary has written a letter to the White House but has yet to get a response, Baur said. The White House declined to comment.
"Farm animals like all animals have feelings and they deserve to be treated with respect and given the best life possible," he said. "We're offing that here, and we hope the president takes us up on that."
If the national turkeys do wind up at Farm Sanctuary, they have next year's Thanksgiving feast to look forward to, Baur said. The shelter spends Thanksgiving feeding traditional fare to the turkeys. "They're the guests of honor instead of the main course."
Should the turkeys be going to Disneyland? Let us know in the comments below.
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11-20-2009 @6:16PM Sales said... Well since pres o is such a lefty he better send it to the farm or could it be he wants to take his fam to the exstravagant and expensive disneyland where only people with money can afford to go? Then he can boast that he sent his 44 T bird there as well??
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11-20-2009 @6:21PM aubrey said... so if you think that you have a right to kill an animal because it is stupid, then you must be okay with eating those with mental retardation. Many humans with mental retardation are less functioning than animals, but you wouldn't eat them. A right to life has NOTHING to do with intelligence, but rather the ability to suffer
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11-20-2009 @6:22PM Pat said... I've had poultry and two turkeys (Pete & Priscella). They all had free range during day and would visit with you when you sat on front porch. I remember visiting Disney a number of years ago and felt sorry for the goats there. They spent their days on a cement paddock. Not much comfort there as opposed to lying in grass and grazing in pasture.
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11-20-2009 @6:25PM jim said... I live in the country and have 7 turkeys, mine stand by the street on Thanksgiving and give everyone the finger lol they know they are safe here :)
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11-20-2009 @6:28PM Thom said... have you heard some song of mine on onmainstage.com
I hope they havn't been altered you can contact
Vp biden with the orignals no for sale.
they should be the same as the others.
that are not on that record i would be willing to submit for copywrite they are not
disrespectful,diragitory,nor sexually flagrant if so, they have been altered.
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11-20-2009 @6:29PM Tinman0670 said... Bush pardoned a turkey? I'm surprised he didn't have it executed by lethal injection!
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11-20-2009 @6:36PM Stan said... Re: Indigenous people
I hate to notify you, but there were none in North, South or Central America. All were immigrants either coming across the land bridge in what is now Alaska or sailing the ocean (Polynesians and Micronesians as well as the Vikings and maybe others.)
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11-20-2009 @6:36PM Mik said... SORRY, If the President had any courage he lop off its head and eat the bird. Maybe share the Presidential Dinner with the homeless (family). This is really a stupid tradition to begin with. Don't play with your food. And learn to share.
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11-20-2009 @6:40PM One of the Victors said... And "Thanksgiving" is a day of mourning for Indigenous people. It should not be a holiday at all.
It is a holiday for the victors
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11-20-2009 @6:40PM Mr. Randel Erlandson said... WOW, Hello American's, Dakotajoe, This messing with
our Thanksgiving Days National Bird, Sounds extremely sick, I enjoyed bringing home and into the
bakers oven our biggest Bird and proud to say I raised him too, Now who is the screwyest Liberal
fool as Mr, T; would say , sorry Sucker, this is
for my main days meal, To share it all with everyone
WHY Does this sicko's get national attention??DJ
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11-20-2009 @8:08PM PETA said... If you have ever raised a Giant White Turkey you would know-they ARE dumber than dirt! I have raised my fair share of turkeys and like other people have said, they will drown in the rain because they stare at the sky and will not necessarily go in their shelter. And YES I ATE those turkeys and boy were they yummy. The turkeys we had were all somewhat free range(we had to pen them at night and during rain or they would die)
But....everyone has feelings.....right?? Ok well they are bred for food and they are JUST ANIMALS.
I love animals just as much as the next person, I mean seriously I would never let anyone hurt any of my animals. But seriously my KIDS (as in tiny HUMANS) are way MORE important. There for I do NOT hold ANIMALS in the same category as humans.
I am so a PETA person just ask anyone
People
Eating
Tasty
Animals
Oh and I really don't care if you don't like me because I probably wouldn't like you! I like using animals for meat and all the benefits that come with using their hides and bones. Humans are OMNIVORES not HERBIVORES! Just in case you didn't know that means eating BOTH PLANTS AND MEAT!!!
(sometimes I wonder what Animal rights people do when they walk in a forest and accidentally step on an ant hill? Or what if they are walking in Nature with their children and a bear attacks who would they save?)
ok I might have gone a little too far with that last one but I think you get the drift.
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11-20-2009 @6:48PM byron said... the idea that turkeys drown in the rain is an old wives tale. turkeys are in fact rather intelligent as far as birds go. in fact benjamin franklin proposed the turkey as our national symbol, but the eagle won out. also, the idea that the triptophan found in turkey causes people to be sleepy is urban myth, triptophan is found in many foods, but the amounts are nearly neglidgable....in order for you to recieve enough to affect you, you would have to eat several large turkeys.
as to whether the turkeys should go to disneyland, no it needs to to a farm where it can recieve proper care. i wont be eating turkey either this year, as i cannot stand the taste or smell of turkey. smells nasty, tastes worse.at the first thanksgiving turkey wasnt served anyway...thanksgiving is supposed to be a day to give thamks to god for all our blessings. it should be a day forremembering how the native americans saved the asses the english settlers, despite the fact that they stole the natives lands.
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11-20-2009 @7:00PM gis399 said... The turkey has more brains than what George W. has.
He looks like he was in the middle of propositioning it!
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11-20-2009 @7:03PM LPStarChaser said... I think that Watkins' Glen would be a good home for the annual turkey pardon. After all, one of Disney's food cart items is ... TURKEY LEGS.
Go figure!
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11-21-2009 @5:51AM LPStarChaser said... Human development sped up because of the increase in the availability and ingestion(eating) of high quality concentrated protein - aka MEAT -!
Farming and raising of animals in place lead to the leisure time to produce art and music in large quantity and diversity.
Mohamed was offered two drinks to quench his thirst, wine (plant based beverage requiring static farming) or milk (prey-amimal based beverage requiring a mobile populace to follow the grazing cycles and rains). He chose milk. Go figure.
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11-20-2009 @7:21PM Lindsay P said... Yum!!! Can't wait to cook my turkey and ham for Thanksgiving...Thank you God for the food!!!
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11-20-2009 @7:25PM paco said... oh geeze---here we go again. more crap from bush bashers or american holiday bashers. either jews, obama supporters or muslims. same ole same ole with those immigrants we should have never allowed in America.
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11-20-2009 @7:30PM peter said... think about it if we were all geneticlly alterd as the turkey what savings we would bring to obama care...
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11-20-2009 @7:29PM bayviewkuppel said... I have seen Disney in action with their animals in Walt disney world and they are some of the best in caring for them. They were operating on a small gazalle's foot and it was in full view of everyone there that day. Those poeple asking for the Turkey are probably going to advertise it as the Pres. bird. Get real people it is a Turkey we have a whole lot of them running around in New Jersey.
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11-20-2009 @7:29PM Lisa~OC, CA said... Talk about misinformation! I actually used to WORK at Disneyland, and they treat their animals very well! They pretty much have their own farm backstage, their own vets, ect. I know because I've SEEN it!
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