PETA Wants Montanans To Be Vegan This Holiday To Protect Turkeys

Here in Montana, you know we are known for eating MEAT, and the vegan lifestyle generally isn't common around here. Do we hate vegans? No, but we certainly will joke around with you at the dinner table... or laugh at an impossible burger.

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So when my email received a release from PETA... I knew it was going to be good. Over 16 years of radio in Montana, I've never had PETA reach out... and you can imagine why. But, as a good media personality, I feel I need to share their message. And you can decide whether or not you agree with it.

Toby the Blue-Snooded Turkey

In landed a "new holiday special advertisement" from PETA, that is airing here in Billings on CBS this Friday during "A Home for The Holidays". This new spot is playing in just 46 cities across the nation, and across the UK... and we can imagine what other major meat-eating areas they have targeted.

It's about Toby, the blue-snooded turkey who escapes from a truck bound for the slaughterhouse... and how this turkey ends up at the table, not on it.

PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman had this to share in their press release:

“Viewers will fall in love with Toby, who helps us remember that all turkeys are smart, curious individuals who love their families and that each one has a story that need not end on a fork. PETA encourages everyone to protect these lovely birds by choosing a delicious vegan feast this holiday season.”

According to PETA, which is hard focused on mega factories processing poultry:

Turkeys raised for food are normally slaughtered when they’re between 14 and 18 weeks old, and approximately 22 million turkeys are killed each year for Christmas in the U.S. alone. Workers hang the young birds upside down, drag them through an electrified bath, slit their throats, and dump them into scalding-hot water in defeathering tanks—often while they’re still conscious.

Grim, right? PETA goes on to beg people to become vegan this holiday season and prevent the senseless murder of turkeys for the holidays.

In addition to preventing nearly 200 animals a year from enduring daily suffering and a terrifying death, everyone who goes vegan shrinks their carbon footprint and slashes their risk of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other ailments.

Wow, it makes me want to go vegan 24/7. Wrong.

Maybe I am a heartless person for this, but being someone who has lived in Montana my entire life... I'm not going to go vegan for the holidays. Or in general. But that is my choice, just as it is your choice to be vegan.

Now, am I picking on vegans here? Absolutely not. Some friends of mine do not eat any meat due to health issues and supplement the nutritional losses with other sources. If you want to do it, do it!

Though, I DO think PETA is tone-deaf with this commercial in Montana. Making the turkey "lovable" in a commercial, and trying to relate it to being a pet... that isn't happening. Have they ever tried to befriend a Turkey?!?

And finally, not to point out the obvious here... but PETA. Turkey is a THANKSGIVING holiday item. Not Christmas. Sure, some may have turkey for both holidays. But in reality, you should be worried about the pigs this year. I know my family will be chowing down on some delicious baked ham.

Enjoy your holiday.