Meet Darla the Turkey November 21, 2007

Posted by Lara Sanders at November 21, 2007 3:31 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 12 ) | TrackBack

In the summer of 2002, I worked at a farmed animal sanctuary near my hometown in Western Pennsylvania. My day consisted of feeding the animals in the morning, and working on a larger project in the afternoon such as painting the barn a new coat of red, or mending a broken fence.

During my lunch break, one of my own decided duties was to hang out with the rescued turkeys. There was one turkey in particular with whom I took a special liking to. Her name was Darla. Darla had come to the sanctuary after falling off a truck bound for the slaughterhouse. She was quite the lucky turkey indeed.

Darla loved to bask in the sun, search for bugs, investigate what the rabbits were doing in the next enclosure, and eat her favorite treat—grapes. She also loved to be pet. Every time I stroked under her beak, she would fall asleep—sometimes even standing up!

Throughout the summer, I noticed Darla starting to change. She would wheeze when she breathed, and would spend more of her days lying down in the barn.

Darla got worse as the weeks wore on. She was becoming crippled under the weight of her genetically manipulated and drugged body. She was not intended to have lived beyond her date with the slaughterhouse. Her legs were giving out, and her lungs were being crushed by her ever-growing body.

One morning, I came into work and heard that Darla had to be euthanized the night before. I wasn't surprised at the news, because I saw the amount of pain that she was in, and knew her time had come. I was still sad though, and remember her especially during this time of year.

Even if you haven't had the great opportunity to be-friend a turkey, it is clear that they are smart, gentle, and feeling beings that deserve not to be used as a holiday dinner!

So for Darla and all turkeys, go cold turkey this Thanksgiving, and opt for some Tofurky instead!

xoxo-Lara

Posted by Lara

Rob Zombie's Holiday Recording and Giveaway November 21, 2007

Posted by Patricia at November 21, 2007 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 17 ) | TrackBack

umusic/Creative Commons

Rob Zombie's a cool dude. I've always been into his music, and being the horror-movie fanatic that I am, I dig his films, too. Although I have to say horror movies never scare me, not even a little, and not even when I watch them alone in the middle of the night. With the exception of the original Halloween, which still gets me, and I'm sure it's that damn music.

So when I found out Zombie was doing a remake of Halloween I was thrilled. But I was even more excited when he agreed to speak up for turkeys and record peta2's Thanksgiving hotline message.

Zombie actually stopped eating meat when in high school after seeing a documentary about slaughterhouses. "It freaked me out, and I found it so disgusting that I stopped eating meat," he says.

People stop eating animals for various reasons, and like Mr. Zombie, it was animal footage that got to me. I had already stopped eating pigs and cows, then saw footage of chickens being raised for food and I immediately went vegan because I was just horrified by what I was seeing.

What was it that made you go veg or get involved in animal rights? Leave me a comment below by November 26 and one of you will win a shirt signed by the master of the macabre himself. If you're the winner, we'll notify you by November 30.

xox

Patricia

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Posted by Patricia

Vegan Turkey Winners! November 16, 2007

Posted by Marta at November 16, 2007 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 6 ) | TrackBack

Last week, I told you about our Garden Protein Vegan Turkey Essay Contest. We asked people to enter by writing an essay, letting their friends and family know why they won't be eating turkeys for Thanksgiving. We managed to narrow things down to five lucky winners, and as I'm typing this, some vegan turkey is making its way to each and every one of them. Want to know why they won? Check out what they had to say for yourself:

Tess Derusha, 15
Gainesville, GA
This Thanksgiving, I will be keeping turkey off my plate. It took me a long time to decide what I would say, I thought I'd go in detail about how they die but now understand it doesn't really matter how the turkeys are killed because no matter which way they're killed, they're always going to end up on someone's plate. Why is it that every time we think of Thanksgiving we think of turkey? Since when is Thanksgiving only about food? Isn't it about being thankful for what we have? Maybe for once the turkeys would like to feel thankful for what they have too, because in the sheds that they live in, they have nothing: No family, no love, no real home, no peace—they live in fear until they are killed. Once they die, they end up on someone's plate. We look at our pets and we feel thankful for them; they feel thankful for us. You would never eat your pet for Thanksgiving, so why eat a turkey? They are just like your pet; they feel emotions too. When you have a baby you're thankful for that, you love the baby, but the mother turkeys don't even get to see their babies. The turkeys grow up with no family whatsoever. You wouldn't eat a helpless baby, so why eat someone else's baby? This year if you really want to feel thankful, leave meat off your plate and out of your house, because if everyone could see how much animals are like us they wouldn't eat them...This Thanksgiving make the turkeys thankful—get fake meat instead. Thank you, from me and the turkeys.

Tara Jeffries, 21
Greensboro, NC
I choose not to consume animal products because I do not believe in taking something that does not belong to me. Because animals do not have the ability to communicate their consent to us, as humans, it is wrong of us to use their bodies or their eggs or their milk or their fur or anything else for our own use. Around Thanksgiving especially, hundreds of thousands of turkeys are slaughtered. They've lived a miserable life in cages that may or may not even allow them to turn around in a complete circle. Their muscles haven't developed, their morale is lower than low, and they've never even seen the outside. Even free range turkeys are still killed off before they've been able to live a long and happy life. I would not kill and eat any of my human friends; I won't eat any of my animal friends either.

Anthony Lyons, 22
Lakewood, OH
I have now been vegetarian for 9 years, since I realized the sad but true process of producing meat. Not only is the process extremely cruel, it is also damaging to our bodies and our environment. And right now is a huge time to realize how much this is adversely affecting out planet. With this is mind I have decided to adhere more to a vegan diet. I have always preferred eating more dairy/egg free meals for the satisfaction and compassion of the animals that would need to produce my food. Me and my friends always make Tofurkys for the holidays and also encourage others to join. Holidays are a big time to show others that you care for our future on this planet as well as the animals that might have died for your meal. When your friends and family see that you have omitted the normal turkey fare from your plate for a much healthier, and caring meal it will have its impact. This year I plan on making a few Tofurkys as they are wonderful and everyone is always eager to taste!

Katie Mogul, 17
Toms River, NJ
For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to give up meat. I would try to "sacrifice" it for Lent, but my mom wouldn't allow it. This past summer, I decided that I was old enough to make my own choices, and I've been a vegetarian. Now, back in my meat-eating days, Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday. I figured it wouldn't be as attractive this year without being able to eat the main course. But as I researched, I discovered tons of yummy-looking alternatives. I am now in the process of designing my own menu. Hopefully, I'll also be able to show my family and friends that there are different ways to enjoy this dinner without eating meat. I hope to inspire the people at dinner. My parents always try to find a problem with my vegetarianism, but maybe they'll see how mature I can be (when it comes to eating) and the issue will be taken more seriously in my family. I know I'll be more comfortable knowing that nothing I consume on Thanksgiving will be tainted with dead animal meat. That's something to be thankful for.

Suzanne Waggoner, 16
Tomah, WI
Thanksgiving is known to me as a day of mass murder because of the way the turkeys and other birds are treated. It is nothing more than a way for corporations to make money. They don't care about how these innocent creatures are treated. They are only concerned about what kind of profit they will make from their deaths. At this time of year, turkeys are loaded with extra amounts of growth hormones because heavier turkeys will rake in larger amounts of money than a normal sized turkey would. These animals suffer from infection, broken legs, and other painful injuries. As Marilyn Manson states in "The Fight Song," "The death of one is a tragedy, the death of a million is just a statistic." These words apply to the animals that are killed each year for Thanksgiving and other holidays. When just a single, innocent animal is killed, people feel sorry for that one animal, but when millions are killed in genocide, it will only become a mere statistic in the growing rate of sales that holiday season. Because there are too many deaths to count, people don't stop to think of the number that are killed and just continue to buy these so called "food" items. It's sickening to think that a lifeless being is lying on my plate. That blood, bones and muscle is what I would be consuming for a meal. I choose to eat cruelty-free on Thanksgiving not only for the health benefits, but out of respect for animals!

Wishing for some vegan turkey for yourself? You're in luck! Garden Protein Veggie Turkey Breasts are available at your local Whole Foods, and there's always the classic tummy-pleasing Tofurky, which you can find at pretty much every major grocery store across the country, so be sure to get yourself to the store to buy one soon!

And if you're looking for some Thanksgiving recipes, here are a few suggestions:

Creamy Chive Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Rosemary Sweet Potatoes
Best-Ever Green Bean Bake
Roasted Garlic Gravy
Pumpkin Patch 'Cheesecake'

Thanksgiving is a time to be, well, thankful, and I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who help save animals by not eating them. You're an inspiration to all of us at peta2. I'm not gonna lie, sometimes it brings a tear to my eyes to see the difference you're all making in the way animals are treated. I love being able to help you all help animals. That's what I'll be thankful for on Thanksgiving. That and my full (animal-free) stomach, of course.

What will you be thankful for?

♥ Marta

Posted by Marta

Pamela Anderson Feeds the Homeless November 15, 2007

Posted by Patricia at November 15, 2007 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 ) | TrackBack

Pamela Anderson has a heart as big as...Texas. (You thought I was going to say something else, didn't you?) Every time you turn around the blond bombshell is doing yet another good deed for animals. She's consistently reliable, our Pammy, and this time she's not only helping animals, she's helping people too.

Yesterday afternoon, Pam and some of her PETA pals served up an early Thanksgiving feast to homeless families at the Family Promise Soup Kitchen in Las Vegas. Can you imagine having Pamela Anderson serve you Thanksgiving dinner?! That must have been wild.

Pam, who actually went veg when she was a teenager, was inspired to host the vegetarian turkey dinner after watching footage from PETA's recent undercover investigation at a turkey slaughterhouse in North America.

"The holiday season can be especially hard for those who find themselves homeless," says Anderson. "And it's murder on turkeys. With so many healthy and delicious options nowadays, it's easy to have a holiday meal that gives even turkeys something to be thankful for."

The families were treated to an amazing faux turkey breast with wild rice and cranberry stuffing, which was generously donated by the fabulous folks at Garden Protein. We had them for Thanksgiving last year and they are sooo good. Yes, that's so with three o's because they're just that good. Head out to your local Whole Foods to snatch them up.

Check out some pix from yesterday's feast.

Photos courtesy of: Mike Stotts/Las Vegas

xox

Patricia

P.S. What's your favorite vegetarian Thanksgiving dish? I'm going with Garden Protein's faux turkey and mashed potatoes.

Posted by Patricia

Win Delicious Veggie Turkey for Thanksgiving! November 8, 2007

Posted by Marta at November 8, 2007 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 1 ) | TrackBack

By now I'm sure you've learned that those of us here at peta2 love the following things:

-Helping animals
-Helping others to help animals
-Giving away free stuff
-Anything related to vegan food

And when we can do everything in one easy step, well that just makes us unbelievably happy. Thanksgiving is just two short weeks away, and we're giving you the chance to win some delicious veggie turkey breasts to share with your family. All you have to do is fill out this form letting your friends and family members know why you're choosing to leave the bird corpse off your plate this Thanksgiving. What better way to help animals than not eat them? There will be five lucky winners, and the deadline to enter is this Sunday, November 11, so get to it!

Now that Thanksgiving is on your brain, I want to share a tasty treat I stumbled across on the peta2 message boards around Thanksgiving last year that I made for my roommates. Everyone loved them, so give 'em a try!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

15 oz. cooked pumpkin (I used canned)
1/3 cup apple sauce
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
4 TBL baking powder
2 tsp water
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Mix everything, then scoop onto greased cookie sheet (I used vegetable oil) and bake for 13-15 minutes.

And who else is stoked to eat TONS of mashed potatoes and vegan gravy on Thanksgiving? It's not just me, right?!

♥ Marta

Posted by Marta