In 1986, Farm Sanctuary began its annual Adopt-A-Turkey Project. This unique effort has saved thousands of turkeys from the slaughterhouse, and encouraged millions of people to be kind to animals. This Thanksgiving, hundreds of families are feeding turkeys, instead of eating them, by adopting feathered friends who live at Farm Sanctuary.

Special holiday celebrations are held at Farm Sanctuary’s shelters in Watkins Glen, NY, and Orland, CA, where turkeys are the guests of honor, not the main course. Farm Sanctuary staff and volunteers prepare a buffet of squash, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and other vegetarian treats, and the turkeys have the pleasure of stuffing themselves.

Through the Adopt-A-Turkey Project, Farm Sanctuary has placed turkeys in loving vegetarian homes in over a dozen states from New York to California. People with open hearts and appropriate facilities are eligible to adopt two or more turkeys. (The birds need companionship, so they are not adopted individually.) Turkeys make great companions and can be a wonderful addition to your family.

It is not always possible for people to welcome a turkey into their home, but everybody can sponsor a turkey who lives at Farm Sanctuary. Here, the birds are allowed to live out their lives, and they are given the space and freedom to engage in natural behaviors and enjoy themselves. For a one-time fee of $20, Adopt-A-Turkey sponsors receive a color photo of their turkey, an adoption certificate and turkey biography, plus a one year subscription to Farm Sanctuary’s quarterly newsletter. People can sponsor a turkey by calling 1-888-SPONSOR or by filling out a sponsorship form. Some of our more famous turkey adopters include Farm Sanctuary celebrity supporters Linda Blair, Alicia Silverstone, James Cromwell, Kevin Nealon, and Rue McClanahan, among others.

The Adopt-A-Turkey Project has attracted media attention, both nationally and locally, helping spread the word about how individuals and their families can have a compassionate Thanksgiving celebration. Farm Sanctuary also offers free educational literature about the plight of turkeys raised for food, as well as turkey-free recipes and resources to make your holiday celebration a success. Farm Sanctuary believes that people will choose to have a vegetarian Thanksgiving once they have an opportunity to meet turkeys and see that they are living, feeling animals.

Like all animals, turkeys experience pain and suffering, yet they are specifically excluded from state and federal animal protection laws. As a result, turkeys are subjected to intolerable cruelty at factory farms and slaughterhouses across the United States. But Farm Sanctuary is working to change the tragic status quo, and the Adopt-A-Turkey Project, which encourages people be part of a new holiday tradition, is a critical part of this effort.