Machipongo, Va. Nov.16 /PRNewswire/ United Poultry Concerns (UPC) will leaflet for turkeys on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the White House on Thursday, November 17 from Noon to 3pm. Speaking for turkeys we will urge people: “DON’T GOBBLE ME!” and offer a free recipe for “Mrs. Gobble-Good’s Golden Brown Pie” – a hardy and delicious vegetarian dish.

Thanksgiving turkeys are raised in filth on factory farms. They are painfully debeaked and detoed without anesthetic to offset the destructive effects of overcrowding, boredom and frustration.

By contrast, wild young turkeys roam the woods and fields with their mother, whom Audubon called “their kind and careful parent.” She shelters her youngsters under her strong, maternal wings at night and gathers them under her wings for warmth and comfort during the day.

“Turkeys are lively, inquisitive birds who are raised in dark, squalid buildings, thick with bacteria and toxic gases, cruelly transported, and tortured with agonizing electric shocks at the slaughterhouse prior to having their throats cut,” says United Poultry Concerns President Karen Davis.

“Turkeys are not even covered by the Humane Slaughter Act. America’s ‘national birds’ are treated atrociously without kindness or mercy,” UPC says. “They have nothing to be thankful for so we urge people to choose a compassionate Thanksgiving instead of consuming a holiday meal made of misery.”

UPC activists will invite White House visitors to discover the joy of turkey-free cooking and dining this year and eat a Tofurky instead. For holiday recipes, see www.upc-online.org/recipes at http://www.upc-online.org.

For more information contact Karen Davis at 757-678-7875 or Franklin Wade at 301-641-2720.