Turkeys dine instead of being dined upon

Turkeys dine instead of being dined upon

■ Farm Sanctuary, a national animal protection group, is placing the turkeys with families who will raise them as pets.

By MICHEL ZIELINSKI

NEWS SPECIAL WRITER__________________

Photograph: Dorothy Davies, left, and Monte Jackson serving a vegetarian meal to some turkeys in Manchester Sunday as part of the national 'Adopt A Turkey' project sponsored by Farm Sanctuary.

MANCHESTER - The six plump turkeys were served in the spirit of Thanksgiving. The gobblers liked the grapes and lettuce the best.

The idea was to “serve the turkeys, rather than serve turkey,” Gene Bauston, director of Farm Sanctuary, said Sunday.

Farm Sanctuary, a national animal protection group, is making its annual trot across the country adopting out its turkeys to animal lovers.

When the turkey express stopped at the Manchester farm of Dorothy Davies and Monte Jackson, the Washtenaw Citizens for Animal Rights sponsored a vegetarian meal for the birds. The culinary delight consisted of kiwi fruit, squash, grapes, muffins and more.

Located in New York, Farm Sanctuary is home to hundreds of mistreated and neglected farm animals who would have ended up on someone’s plate. The organization exposes animal abusers in the industry, and lobbies the government for reform.

“We would find animals left for dead and we would get them and bring them to the farm,” said Bauston. “These particular birds fell out of a truck on the way to a grower farm. One of our people found them on the road.”

Bauston said turkeys are not protected under the federal Humane Slaughter Act, which requires that an animal be stunned before it is killed. He said turkeys are killed by being hung upside down on conveyor belts and then cut by an automatic knife. But sometimes the knife misses, said Bauston, and then the bird is dropped alive into scalding water.

According to the National Turkey Federation, more than 280 million turkeys will be produced in 1991.

Fred Hjort, vice president of Bil Mar Foods of Zeeland, one of the nation’s top turkey processors, said turkeys are treated humanely.

“There are no live turkeys that ever get dipped in scalding water,” said Hjort. He said turkeys first are electrically stunned before their necks are cut. The process is continually supervised so that no bird gets by the knife without being killed, he said.

Of the six turkeys at Sunday’s feast, two were adopted by Leslie and Bob Nason of Williamston. They heard about the program and decided to build a coop for a pair of turkeys.

“They have a turkey Hilton,” said Bob Nason of his new feathered friends. Leslie Nason said the couple already has 14 dogs, three chickens, and two horses, which were used in a program for handicapped riders before being put to pasture.

Two more of the turkeys are staying at the Manchester farm of Davies and Jack-son, where they will make new friends with a couple of donkeys and numerous goats, sheep, geese, cats, and the dog in charge of them all, Sasha.

Davies said the animals have lived on the farm for 10 years.

“Originally, we thought we were going to raise our own meat,” she said. Instead, they acquired a number of homeless animals and became vegetarians.

The last two turkeys will travel on to Ohio, and will perhaps find a home there as Farm Sanctuary continues its “Adopt A Turkey” tour. City folk who don’t have a place to house a turkey can sponsor an adoption for $15. The bird will stay at the Sanctuary in New York, and the sponsor will receive a photograph of the turkey they saved and regular progress reports. For more information, call (607) 583-2225.

During Sunday afternoon’s meal, the white-feathered turkeys looked curiously at the cuisine, then pecked politely at their plates. What excited them the most was when someone set down a tub of the usual old slop - cracked com and sunflower seeds.