While the holiday season is known for plenty of family, friends and food, let's all spare a thought for those who gave their lives in order for this to happen. No, not Jesus (that's what Easter's for): I'm talking about the turkeys, who so unselfishly give up gobbling so we can gobble them up, every year like clockwork.
Of course, every Thanksgiving, the president takes it upon himself to pardon a turkey of his choosing, but many more lose their lives every year, only to be shoved in ovens, dished out on dinner plates and tucked into Tupperware containers across the country.
In the United States, 46 million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving and a further 22 million on Christmas, so you can understand a couple of groups paying their respects to the turkeys. But this group of vegans are making waves online for going about it in what you could say is not the most conventional way.
Over in the UK (and indeed across the world) vegan diets are becoming more popular, as our concerns about health and the environment at large starts to worm its way into our collective consciousness.
Animal rights is but one aspect of a person's decision to turn vegan, but it's those extreme animal rights activists who have become the symbol for veganism across the world. That, of course, comes with its own problems. Especially if you're not a big fan of sweeping gestures at Thanksgiving like a wake for all the turkeys who lost their lives over the holidays.
"They Wanted To Live," says a sign down at St Werbergh’s City Farm in Bristol, located in the southwest of England. Vegans across the city made their way to the farm with vegan mince pies in hand, and reverence in their souls. They paid respects to nine turkeys in particular who'd lost their lives over the holiday period.
"There’s a lot of anger that the turkeys are dead, but we just want people to have a peaceful outlet for their grief," says vegan activist Sarah Nicol of the turkeys killed at the farm, now known as the "Saint Werbegh's Nine".
"We’re hopeful that Bristol’s city farms can move towards being sanctuaries.Their goals aren’t based in slaughtering their animals, they’re based in helping and educating the public. So it’s a logical step to move towards becoming a sanctuary. The turkeys caught people’s attention because they could see them, felt that they knew them. They were nine individuals, rather than countless, nameless animals in a slaughterhouse."
Unfortunately, St Werbergh's was forced to shut down its social media page after backlash from the vigil, and in a statement, they announced that they were halting their annual Christmas auction as a result of the protests.
"Having listened to the views of a small section of our community, we decided not to hold our annual public turkey auction," the farm announced in the statement.
"However, the aims and objectives of the Farm remain unchanged and our turkeys have been sold for Christmas."
