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President Obama: Happy Thanksgiving and welcome[br]to the White House.

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Tomorrow is one of the best days of the year[br]to be an American.

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It’s a day to count our blessings, spend[br]time with the ones we love, and enjoy some

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good food and some great company.

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But it’s also one of the worst days of the[br]year to be a turkey.

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They don’t have it so good.

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The rare exception of course are the two birds[br]who've joined me today.

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Hi it's Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome[br]to another vegan nugget.

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Every year, the President of the United States[br]pardons two turkeys from being slaughtered

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for Thanksgiving.

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But what most people don’t realize about[br]this supposedly lighthearted tradition is

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that the majority of pardoned turkeys die[br]within a year of their pardon.

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And this year, as in several times before,[br]the two presidential turkeys will come from

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my state—Iowa.

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Two days ago I was at a turkey slaughterhouse in Iowa, where over 20,000 turkeys a day are killed.

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They were terrified.

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Sitting in the cold for hours upon hours.

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Covered and feces and sores.

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One with a growth the size of a basketball[br]on her chest.

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I stayed with them for hours and streamed[br]footage live to the channel to share their

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stories on the last day of their lives.

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You can see those videos to be with them here. [br][See upper right corner]

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The turkeys we eat are bred to grow very large[br]very fast and are slaughtered at around 18-20

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weeks of age.

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Because they’re so unnaturally large, those[br]with the good fortune of being pardoned die

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from typically obesity-related complications.

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And as for where they get to live out the[br]brief remainder of their lives?

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Destinations have ranged from Disneyland,[br]to Mount Vernon, to this place, and now…here,

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where the public gets to ogle them in their[br]enclosures.

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This extravagant production, run by the lobbyist[br]organization the National Turkey Federation,

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essentially serves as an extended governmental[br]infomercial for the turkey industry.

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The Federation’s annual turkey gifting began[br]more or less in 1947 when angry farmers sent

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crates of live hens to President Truman in[br]protest of his failed “poutlryless Thursday”

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attempt to reduce national meat and egg consumption.

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But it doesn’t take a president to pardon[br]a turkey.

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And as you can see, it’s not much of a reprieve[br]after all.

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To show you how it’s really done, and shine[br]some light on this dark holiday—founded

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upon the massacre of an entire people, who[br]still mourn the loss of their families while

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others gather in celebration with their own.

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I want to share with you a story of hope from[br]Rowdy Girl Sanctuary in Texas.

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The following video was created by the incredible[br]film making team Chee Wei and Alana Tompson.

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You’ll hear Rowy Girl Founder Renee mention[br]FFA, which along with 4-H is pro-farming agricultural

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youth program, teaching children how to raise,[br]care for and show so-called “food” animals

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before sending them to slaughter.

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To hear more about other FFA and 4H survivors,[br]see this video about the residents of

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Rowdy Girl Sanctuary.

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[Phone Rings]

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Renee: Hi, Is this Lillie?

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This is Renee King Sonnen with the Rowdy Girl[br]Sanctuary.

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I have a strange request.

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Renee: Right now, we are going to rescue two

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turkeys that would have been slaughtered through[br]the FFA system.

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We saw a flyer in a health food store a couple[br]of days ago advertising these two turkeys

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for sale for fifty dollars each.

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We grabbed the flyer, took it off the wall,[br]left and straight away called and talked to

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the lady to see if she would pardon these[br]two turkeys.

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Renee: Hi

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Lillie: Hey! How are you doing?

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Renee: So good to meet you

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Renee: In Texas and other parts of the country,[br]FFA is a real valued, traditional and cultural

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experience for our youth.

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But of course folks who really, really love[br]animals and choose not to participate in any

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of the violence towards them at all.

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We are just elated that she said 'Yes' to[br]pardoning the last two that she has.

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Renee: So they just got out of the FFA?

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Lillie: Yeah! the Fair, the [br]Brazoria County Fair

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Renee: So you had how many?

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Lillie: We had twenty.

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Renee: Twenty!

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Lillie: I have three kids so, we had nine[br]in the show.

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Renee: So had you have any that, when they[br]were ready to take them all away…

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I heard that they call it the trail of tears,[br]you know, when they go and …

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Lillie: don’t know..

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Anna is getting to keep her rabbit...

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Renee: really?!

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Lillie: So, her rabbit that made eleventh[br]out of eighty four she’s going to keep him

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and he’s going to live here forever.

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Renee: Awww! that’s so awesome!

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Lillie: we can compromise when we can but these [br]were bred for certain purpose and that’s what...

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Renee: You got to and you get that—

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Lillie: Yes I have to have that mentality.

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Renee: Yeah! you have to have [br]that mentality to do it. Exactly!

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Lillie: Yeah, otherwise I just don’t...

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Renee: You lose your mind[br]Lillie: I wouldn’t do it!

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I wouldn’t do it! I wouldn’t raise them if I—you know...

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Renee: No!...

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Renee: You are so awesome to be doing this with us[br]Lillie: Yep

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Renee: Can I give you another Hug?

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[Heartwarming Music continues]

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Renee: It was such an experience to see[br]this woman open her heart and pardon those

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two turkeys.

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To see the other turkeys that were destined[br]to be Thanksgiving dinner was really sad.

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You know, we really wanted all of them

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Tommy: You can’t save them all.

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There’s probably 80 Million turkeys[br]that are going to be harvested in the next

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few weeks for Thanksgiving dinner this year.

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Renee: These turkeys are so inquisitive.

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And they have personalities, you know, they[br]love life, they want to live!

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Renee: Thanksgiving is a time when families[br]all get together nieces, nephew, uncles.

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Families call, they come from all over.

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You may not see these family members but that[br]one time a year, so it really is a celebration

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of love.

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[Uplifting Music]

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Renee: This year, this Thanksgiving, these[br]two Turkeys are going to be celebrated so

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that instead of giving thanks for a turkey[br]on our plate, we are going to thanks for these

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turkeys and we are going to be giving them[br]a Thanksgiving Dinner to remember!

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Renee: So everyone is gonna want to know[br]I'm sure what their names are gonna be

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because right now they have no names.

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And we have decided to give them names of[br]the two folks behind the camera right now.

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We have Alana with Black Ant Films.

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So we are going to call one of them Alana[br]So.. that’s one name. And then the other one,

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we were going to call her Chee Wei—[br]he’s the producer of De Claffer Music.

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But we decided that instead of calling him[br]Chee Wei, since that’s a masculine term,

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we are going to call her Chi Chi.

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So we got Chi Chi and Alana.

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We want to welcome them to [br]Rowdy Girl Sanctuary.

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Please share this video this holiday season[br]to show what true compassion looks like

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and the truth about Thanksgiving.

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See these videos here, which are also linked[br]in the description, for more about Thanksgiving’s

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dark history, what turkeys really experience,[br]and to get involved with and support the work

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of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary.

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Subscribe and enable notifications for more[br]vegan truth every week.

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Now go live vegan, spare a turkey or two,[br]and I’ll see you soon.

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Please think about them.

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Please think about them this...

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"Thanksgiving," y'know?

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Don't forget them.

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Cause it might just seem like...

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trucks full of identical birds, you know?

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One's the same as the other?

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But those are individuals.

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For each one of them,...

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this is their life— this is their only life.

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This is their last day.

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They're about to go inside and experience[br]something that none of us can even fathom.

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It's their life.