Before he was known as ‘Paul’, he was one of the millions of turkeys destined to end up on supermarket shelves…
But this affectionate, clever turkey got to spend his days following around animal sanctuary owner, Emma, and even lent her a wing with projects on the property.
Some might call it a Christmas miracle, but it was kindness that changed Paul’s fate – and it’s through kindness that the lives of more farmed animals can be transformed.
Most turkeys will spend their lives trapped not only inside factory farm sheds, but also trapped inside painfully large, deliberately modified bodies.
The turkey meat industry has engineered these animals to grow at an alarming rate. In fact, they can’t even reproduce naturally, and require human intervention to breed. Designed to become very ‘meaty’, very ‘quickly’, their legs can barely support their weight. To relieve the pressure on their joints, they are forced to crouch down or sit on the dirty shed floors.
Turkeys could live up to 15 years if given the chance, but to meet the demand for turkey meat, their lives can be cut short at around 10 weeks old. Some don’t even survive that long, and the industry accepts their early deaths as a ‘cost of doing business’.
This is ‘life’ for most turkeys in Australia, and around the world – but Paul’s story shows us that there’s another possibility…
By choosing to eat kindly, we can pave a new path towards a compassionate world for turkeys and other farmed animals – a world where they are seen as the unique individuals they are, just like Paul, and like the dogs and cats we share our homes and our hearts with.
Here are two ways you can choose to celebrate turkeys (not turkey) this Christmas and beyond:
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