Turkeys don’t want to be slaughtered for a sandwich, and they don’t want to suffer in hot barns in the summer. And whistleblower warnings of an impending “catastrophe” amid Butterball’s layoffs, and a brochure leaked to PETA, prove what we have known for some time: Butterball’s alleged commitment to “support the health and well-being of the people.” [its] turkeys ”- it’s all cheers. And now we bring some warmth too – in an urgent letter, we look to Butterball to fuck off outgrowing birds.
A Butterball pamphlet leaked to PETA highlights “managing heat stress” through measures such as “spraying the birds” – in Butterball, it’s obviously all about bottom line.
On page 5 of the leaked Butterball brochure, there is a photograph of turkeys looking out at a field that they will never be allowed to enjoy.
Turkeys are already suffering when they are shoved into stuffy sheds and dragged along the highway to the slaughterhouse, where their throats are cut. But at Butterball’s Carthage, Missouri, it was reported that a new company policy that would dramatically increase the weight and age of turkeys killed there would also dramatically increase the likelihood of animals dying from heatstroke.
Heat exhaustion is a serious threat to turkeys.
Butterball’s own brochure shows that even smaller birds can die if farmers don’t blow them up with washers and drive around barns, signaling them to get up and dissipating the heat that builds up under their bodies. Now – according to a whistleblower who contacted PETA – as layoffs have reduced the capacity of Butterball’s slaughterhouse in Carthage, the birds the company calls “super-toms” will be housed for another three to four weeks and will grow 20% more in what is called a “disaster “.
While this callousness is certainly disappointing, it’s not surprising. Eventually, at the Butterball slaughterhouse, an undercover PETA investigator witnessed workers stomping birds, banging them against walls, and ripping off their limbs.
If Butterball’s super-cats and pointless prayers annoy you, there is only one thing to do: boycott the company’s plans to impose the suffering of heatstroke and suffocation, in addition to other systemic abuses already inflicted on the animal. Giving up such cruelty is as easy as leaving turkeys and all other animals, eggs, dairy and honey off your plate. Click below to see how easy it is:
For turkeys and all other animals – vegetarian