Thanksgiving Celebration FOR Turkeys

Wow, the Celebration FOR Turkey event at Farm Sanctuary was such a spiritual experience for me! I loved how we fed the turkeys before we fed ourselves. That is how it should always be. I always feed my animals before I feed myself. Countless animals have sacrificed their lives in order to feed us and we do not treat them with enough respect and compassion. Since we fed the turkeys at 1:00 PM, we didn't eat until 2:00 PM. Normally, I have lunch at 12:00 PM, but I wasn't even that hungry by the 2:00 arrived because I was so enthralled with the turkeys that I actually forgot about my hunger! When we visited the cow barn, most of the cows trotted over to us and lowered their heads so we could pet them (just like a rabbit)! They were the friendliest cows and I felt so touched by that experience. Instead of viewing us as enemies, they treated us as friends. They were completely innocent, open and trusting. We can learn so much from our four-footed friends!

The pigs were very friendly too and I loved how the simplest things gave them the greatest pleasure such as a nice belly rub! Daniel started laughing when the pig he approached flopped over and snorted while he rubbed her belly. My favorite part of the day was kneeling before the turkeys and presenting them with an artfully decorated, beautiful display of fresh acorn squash stuffed with succulent dressing surrounded by cranberries and sliced grapes. I loved how the Farm Sanctuary volunteers took time to slice the grapes into quadrants so the turkeys wouldn't choke on them. There was so much thoughtfulness and love that went into the preparation of the food for the turkeys. I do the same thing when I feed my rabbits and guinea pigs. I like to arrange the food into a pretty display in beautiful food dishes just like what you would see in a restaurant. My husband thinks it's silly for me to go to so much trouble, but if people enjoy beautifully arranged food when they eat out, I'm sure that animals appreciate it too!

After we had our delicious vegan holiday feast, the co-founder of Farm Sanctuary gave a short talk. I was very impressed when I learned that he had a graduate degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University. He talked about how agricultural students at Cornell are initiated into the cruelties of our animal agricultural industry, how "bad" has become acceptable. When he spoke, his talk reminded me of the atrocities that took place during the Holocaust and the wars that plague other countries around the world. It seems that when enough people commit a heinous act, it becomes acceptable. People are so "blind" to their actions that they automatically accept the status quo (even it's a horrible and cruel status quo) as normal.