"farm sanctuary" news and stories

Every Thanksgiving millions of turkeys find their way to Americans' dinner tables.

But animal protection organization Farm Sanctuary -- and spokesperson Ellen Degeneres -- is urging Americans to reconsider their Thanksgiving menus and adopt, rather than eat, Thanksgiving turkeys.

Degeneres has signed on as the spokesperson for Farm Sanctuary's 2010 "Adopt-a-Turkey Project," an annual program the sanctuary runs to raise awareness about the conditions of and mistreatment in factory turkey farms.

"Save a life this Thanksgiving, and join me in starting a new tradition by adopting a turkey instead of eating one through Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project," Degeneres said in a statement.

Last year Farm Sanctuary petitioned President Obama to send the White House's annual pair of "pardoned" turkeys to its shelter rather than to Disneyland, where turkeys pardoned by President Bush were sent, Slashfood reported.

While last year's national turkeys pardoned on Thanksgiving by President Bush found homes in Disneyland, this year a farm animal rescue group is petitioning President Obama to send the turkeys to them instead.

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."