Yesterday's Thanksgiving edition of the Los Angeles Times included a huge article, on the front of the California section, headed, "Hold the turkey please. A vegan Thanksgiving -- where the birds are friends, not feast." The article, by Carla Hall, included interviews with many vegan animal advocates.
I was one of the activists interviewed, thanks to my having invited two turkeys to dinner, Bruce and Emily, who I am fostering until they are retired to Animal Acres as part of a "Thanking the Monkey" event there on December 14.
(The turkeys are named after actors Bruce Greenwood and Emily Deschanel who will be reading with me and helping retire their namesakes.)
The articles opens with:
"At Karen Dawn's Thanksgiving feast, there will be yams and stuffing with cranberries and a dessert of pumpkin-pecan pie, all set out on a table for eight.
"And there will be turkeys, two of them actually -- Emily and Bruce (or possibly Brucilla -- it's a little unclear). The two 20-pounders will have most of the privileges of Dawn's other sentient guests -- a Pacific Palisades patio, a view of the ocean and vegetarian nibbles.
"At Dawn's vegan holiday dinner, guests will ooh and aah over live birds. The only turkey plunked down on her table will be Wild Turkey bourbon.
"'It goes beautifully with the hot apple cider,' Dawn says brightly."
Hall offers some serious and important information in her article. She tells us:
"Turkeys are smart -- contrary to popular opinion -- companionable and affectionate, animal advocates say."
And we read:
"To animal welfare advocates, the process of raising, then slaughtering animals for food is a torturous one. The federal Humane Slaughter Act, which governs how animals are killed, does not protect poultry -- which constitute 95% of animals killed for food."
You'll find the whole article, including a fun picture of Bruce and Emily Turkey watching dining room preparations, on line at: http://tinyurl.com/5w9huu
Both the reporter, Carla Hall (carla.hall@latimes.com ) and the paper itself deserve appreciative notes for their focus on vegan eating on what is colloquially called "Turkey Day." You can keep the animal friendly discussion alive in the Times with your letter to the editor about the treatment of animals used for food or about your own plant-based diets. The Los Angeles Times takes letters at letters@latimes.com
Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be published. And please be sure not to use any comments or phrases from me or from any other alerts in your letters. Editors are looking for original responses from their readers.
Yours and the animals',
Karen Dawn
(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)
Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read reviews of Karen Dawn's new book, "Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals" and watch the fun celebrity studded promo video.