“While many around the community would see this as good community relations, animal rights activist group PETA took issue with the BPD’s gesture.”
A police department in Montana drew criticism from PETA for handing out frozen turkeys to motorists. The Billings Police Department pulled over vehicles for minor traffic infractions and instead of issuing a citation, the police officers handed out frozen turkeys to the drivers. While many around the community would see this as good community relations, animal rights activist group PETA took issue with the BPD’s gesture. A representative from the group e-mailed Billings Police Chief Rich St. John to express their well-known stance on meat eaters.
PETA’s Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman wrote,
“I’d like to make an offer that will really give Montanans something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: We’d like to help you serve up a vegan holiday dinner and protect residents’ health by donating delicious cholesterol-free Tofurkey roasts for you to hand out to drivers.”
The e-mail goes on talking about how smart and sensitive turkeys are. Apparently, they cluck along to music.
Reiman also gives statistics on the growing popularity of veganism in the United States. According to the e-mail, 6% of Americans “identify as vegans.” Reiman also inserted a small mention about those who don’t eat meat for religious or environmental reasons, yet continued to express a PETA-approved definition of what Thanksgiving means—failing to recognize that not all Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, some for religious purposes.
There are many Americans in need, and they don’t have the luxury of questioning how their food is made
Chief St. John responded by accepting the offer, “Thank you for the generous offer to donate Tofurkey roasts. There is no shortage of families in need this holiday season and we would be happy to hand them out,” he wrote.
I’m not sure what PETA expected to hear, but Chief St. John’s reply says it all. There are many Americans in need, and they don’t have the luxury of questioning how their food is made, nor do they care.
The fact that PETA had to make a production out of offering the strange vegetarian version of turkey shows how disingenuous their “concern” truly is. Rather than quietly donate their weird Tofurkey, they would rather drag an entire police department for their goodwill toward the community. No one cares how long it took a bird to die when children are going hungry in the United States.
I hope the BPD takes video while handing out vegetarian turkeys to the fine residents of Billings, Montana
There are also many families who would benefit from receiving a tofurkey—which is made of organic tofu and wheat protein—but there’s no need to discredit the police department for handing out frozen turkeys. The recipients were surely thankful for this kind gesture, maybe even some who worried about how to get a Thanksgiving meal for their families.
On a personal note, I hail from the great state of Montana, not two hours from Billings. Hunting and fishing are part of a Montanan’s DNA. I hope the BPD takes video while handing out vegetarian turkeys to the fine residents of Billings, Montana, because I am curious to see the reactions they would get. PETA doesn’t care about those in need, as long as they can push their self-righteous agenda on everyone in efforts to shove veganism down our throats
