Spare turkeys some spirit of Christmas (From York Press)

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Spare turkeys some spirit of Christmas

10:23am Wednesday 19th December 2007

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By Reader's letter »

While planning your special lunch for Christmas Day, why not spare a moment to think what the poor turkey will go through, and consider a vegetarian alternative?

Seventeen million turkeys are reared annually for meat in the UK, the majority of them in such overcrowded conditions that proper inspection, to ensure their welfare, is impossible.

There is no specific legislation to protect the welfare of farmed turkeys and serious abuses continue to occur. The average Christmas turkey will have had a miserable life.They are frequently tightly packed together in the dimly-lit sheds. At slaughter, "spent" breeding males may legally be hung in shackles for up to three minutes (fully conscious), despite the fact that many weigh as much as a ten-year-old child, and many suffer from extremely painful hip injuries.

For me, Christmas is about family, rest, and goodwill to all beings. It won't ruin Christmas to skip the turkey. In fact, Going veggie on 25th December will help reduce the appalling suffering of turkeys and would best demonstrate the true spirit of Christmas.

Coun Paul Blanchard, Chaucer Lane, York.

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Jason, says...
12:19pm Wed 19 Dec 07

You don't need specific legislation. There is already more than enough legislation in place. If the government departments are failing to ensure that this is enforced then I suggest you take this up with your party as they are the ones in charge.

The true spirit of xmas is turkey, pigs in blankets, sausage stuffing and eating and drinking to excess or are you now as well as telling what i should and shouldn't eat telling me what i should think as well?

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root-two, York says...
12:28pm Wed 19 Dec 07

While planning your special lunch for Christmas Day, why not spare a moment to think what the poor turkey will go through, and consider a vegetarian alternative?

Errrr ... no.
Besides, I'm having mutton for Christmas dinner, just for a change. No foie gras though - can't stand the stuff.

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wiggles, York says...
4:09pm Wed 19 Dec 07

Here we go again - the veggie brigade are on the March. you're already too late to save this years turkey's - most of them have already been slaughtered and if you think your views will do anything to change the meat-eating crowds views then you are sadly mistaken - nobody is forcing you to eat meat and by the same token you will not force me to be a vegitarian by coming out with the same seasonal cr*p year after year.

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dave123, York says...
5:08pm Wed 19 Dec 07

*opens mouth and points to canine teeth*

MAN EAT MEAT!

hence we have canine teeth! stop being such a sheep-sh*gger!

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andyb, york says...
5:22pm Wed 19 Dec 07

our dog`s got canine teeth and he ate our lasses tights

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root-two, York says...
5:46pm Wed 19 Dec 07

our dog`s got canine teeth and he ate our lasses tights

There's got to be a better way to get more fibre into his diet (on a serious note, hope that there was no lasting damage to the dog!)

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andyb, york says...
5:50pm Wed 19 Dec 07

He`s fine, we take him on walks now to La Senza and let him look in the window.

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simon, down.south says...
9:38pm Wed 19 Dec 07

It is about animal welfare, pity veggies take it further. I spare the boose and spend more on a free-range, well cared for bird. Then my canines, incisors, pre-molars and molars do their job.
Primates are omnivores, vegetarianism is a life-style choice, commendible if based on objection to intensive farming methods, but do not get on a high moral ground.

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RikRock, York says...
9:37am Thu 20 Dec 07

*opens mouth and points to canine teeth*

Have you actually looked at your teeth and thought about it - just because they are called 'canine' teeth does not mean that they bear any resemblance to the teeth of a real carnivore, they don't

In fact, our front teeth are more designed for piercing the skin and biting into FRUIT - and would be totally inadequate at killing or even piercing the think skin of a live herbivore. - we cannot eat meat unless it has been skinned and cooked.

Have a happy Christmas, but please don't walk around pointing at your teeth to justify your factory farmed dinner.

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Redundant Pronoun, Northwest of York says...
10:32am Thu 20 Dec 07

RickRock wrong.
Man can and does eat raw meat and that man isn't famed for pinning down herbivores and biting them to death. Man get kicked in nuts for trying.

Man has brain. Man use bow or spear or gun.
*Fruit, nice. Would kill man pretty fast if that is all that man would eat.
Man and woman with brain eat free-range or wild meat.
Man and woman with vegan religion, tell others not to do things and annoy man and woman without.
Man and woman without vegan religion tell man and woman what to do with it....

*specially at this time of year.

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oli4uk, York says...
1:28pm Thu 20 Dec 07

RikRock wrote:

*opens mouth and points to canine teeth*

Have you actually looked at your teeth and thought about it - just because they are called 'canine' teeth does not mean that they bear any resemblance to the teeth of a real carnivore, they don't

In fact, our front teeth are more designed for piercing the skin and biting into FRUIT - and would be totally inadequate at killing or even piercing the think skin of a live herbivore. - we cannot eat meat unless it has been skinned and cooked.

Have a happy Christmas, but please don't walk around pointing at your teeth to justify your factory farmed dinner.

We are decended from the very same apes which are so teritorial that they kill and eat one another.

Man is omnivorous, throughout our entire history we have survived by killing as well as foraging. Our teeth were in fact shaped more carniverously, but they have degraded over time due to our use of tools.

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Jason, says...
2:59pm Thu 20 Dec 07

In fact, our front teeth are more designed for piercing the skin and biting into FRUIT

Stupid hippy.

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RikRock, York says...
4:25pm Thu 20 Dec 07

Stupid hippy.

predictable response - and not accurate.

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Jason, says...
4:51pm Thu 20 Dec 07

half accurate. The hippy part is the insult

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RikRock, York says...
9:43pm Thu 20 Dec 07

LOL - when all you have left is insults, you lose, sucker !

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Jason, says...
10:38pm Thu 20 Dec 07

I don't loose, you see I will keep eating and enjoying a wide range of food stuff not limited by some narrow minded ideology. I will also enjoy circuses, shoot stuff, catch and eat fish and watch horse racing. I will appreciate that there are people out there that will stand up to the minority and continue to experiment on animals and just about every other thing that causes your bile to rise.

Merry xmas.

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tricky ricky, malton says...
11:00pm Thu 20 Dec 07

Bl**dy veggie brigade. I challenge you to show me a turkey the size of a 10yr old child.

I challenge you to show me turkeys reared in sheds.

I challenge you to show me abuse of said animals.

Again I put it to you that you have outdated evidence, or evidence from a third-world eastern European country and made it fit your empty aruguments.

We, as a democratic society with intelligent thought processes, are sick and tired of Blanchard and his half with deciples telling us what we should and should not eat. Humans are carnivourous. We run this planet because we developed the ability to eat anything. If we had only lived on nuts and berries, 50000 years ago we would have been extinct.

When Blanchard ends this campaign to turn us all in to smelly unwashed granola muching hippies, we the meat eaters will stop the insults. it is because you're all so bleedin dim we hate you so much.

For the record, i'm having fattened Goose and fois gras fro christmas yum yum yum Jason, you coming for lunch????

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RikRock, York says...
10:38am Fri 21 Dec 07

I challenge you to show me turkeys reared in sheds.

Bernard Matthews

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tricky ricky, malton says...
11:26am Fri 21 Dec 07

RikRock wrote:

I challenge you to show me turkeys reared in sheds.
Bernard Matthews

fields! sheds are for the gathering for transportation and for vetinary checks. The prodominately live in fields thus why they contracted bird flu.

Jason's comment stands - stupid hippy

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RikRock, York says...
9:21pm Fri 21 Dec 07

In a field, what a dreamer of a bygone age you are !

look at life on a turkey farm here

http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=fYGiJPOsD
Zc

Merry Xmas

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oli4uk, York says...
11:36am Thu 14 Feb 08

Oh Dear God, Please tell me someone who is meant to be a leader of our city is spewing this ****.

And.

"Have you actually looked at your teeth and thought about it - just because they are called 'canine' teeth does not mean that they bear any resemblance to the teeth of a real carnivore, they don't

In fact, our front teeth are more designed for piercing the skin and biting into FRUIT - and would be totally inadequate at killing or even piercing the think skin of a live herbivore. - we cannot eat meat unless it has been skinned and cooked."

Actually primate teeth are omnivourous, the front 6 teeth are designed for ripping and slashing, take a look at monkey, most of them eat each other. Mayybe we should take up canniballism too.

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