Thanksgiving Is for the Birds *** Animal Sanctuary Event ***

Chickens, ducks, and one lucky turkey enjoyed pumpkin pie and other Thanksgiving treats at an animal sanctuary located in the heart of poultry country.

(PRWEB) November 27, 2003 --
Thanksgiving Is for the Birds

Pumpkin and brown rice baked in a pie, raw kale and turnip greens tossed in a salad, big bowls brimming with unsweetened applesauce... this may not seem like the ideal Thanksgiving feast for people but it was a menu made in heaven for the midday meal for the ducks, chickens, and one lucky turkey at the Eastern Shore Sanctuary. A good time was had by all at the Sanctuarys annual Thanksgiving feast for the birds.

Located in the heart of a rural region dominated by the poultry industry, the Eastern Shore Sanctuary & Education Center is home to a host of birds rescued from dangerous circumstances, including local broiler" chickens found on highways after jumping or falling from trucks headed to the slaughterhouse, hens from an egg factory that was shut down due to environmental violation, roosters confiscated by police from illegal cockfighting operations, and birds found in parks after escaping from religious rituals involving animal sacrifice.

The sanctuarys sole turkey arrived with a number of ducks and hens who were almost sent to auction when they became a burden on their disabled caretakers. Thanks to the timely intervention of a neighbor (and the financial assistance of a long-time animal rights activist) the birds came to the sanctuary instead of going to slaughter. The turkey is called Cara, which means friend" in Irish, because she was so deeply devoted to the young ducks with whom she had been living that she cried pitifully when she was briefly separated from them and could not calm down until she was reunited with them.

Cara and the other birds at the Eastern Shore Sanctuary enjoyed pumpkin pie, turnip greens, and other treats as part of an alternative celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday. An alternative is needed, says the sanctuary, because the traditional holiday hurts animals while celebrating a hurtful time in history.

Colonization is nothing to crow about;" says sanctuary co-founder and coordinator Pattrice Jones, the European invasion and occupation of the Americas was accomplished by genocide and ecocide. Neither the human communities nor the ecosystems that were here before the Pilgrims have ever fully recovered."

According to some animal advocates, the turkey typifies the destructive impact of the historical process celebrated on Thanksgiving. Like so many animals native to the Americas, wild turkey populations were decimated by the combination of relentless hunting and reckless habitat destruction wrought by the European colonizers. Turkeys were also subjected to a process of domestication" that led directly to the factory farmed turkeys of today - distressed and often disabled birds who go to painful and terrifying deaths having never seen the sun or breathed fresh air.

At the same time, colonization of the Americas produced profound changes in social structures and diets of both European and Native Americans. That process of diet change led directly to the typical U.S. diet of today, which is marked by heavy consumption of meat and other unhealthy animal products. The average U.S. carnivore consumes enough resources to feed 20 people a balanced vegetarian diet. As a result, 826 million people in the world are living with hunger and malnutrition while the U.S. struggles with heath care costs and productivity losses associated with heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers associated with meat consumption.

Does this mean that we shouldnt celebrate Thanksgiving? No, says Jones, pointing out that the celebration of the harvest is a healthy tradition in many cultures. We can celebrate the fertility of the earth, which offers us so many plants to eat. We can celebrate the beauty and utility of biodiversity by showing respect for creatures who are different than ourselves. And, we can celebrate the healthy resistance to violence and oppression by supporting ongoing struggles for human and animal liberation."

Right now," says Jones, the Lakota people on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota are struggling to rid themselves of a massive pork production facility at which both abuses of animals and abuses of Native American workers have been alleged. That unwanted animal factory is an example of the same destructive process of colonization. By a adopting sustainable vegan diet, everyone can join the struggle against animal abuse, human hunger, and environmental destruction."

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CONTACT: Pattrice Jones, Eastern Shore Sanctuary & Education Center, 410-651-4934, sanctuary@bravebirds.org