Amid national feasting, a few charities look out for a handful of birds that escape the annual massacre.
A check of Google news turns up over 1,500 items talking about serving turkey to the needy or homeless on Thanksgiving, a peculiar US ritual that runs parallel to the Macy's Thanksgiving parade in the mind of the media.
The New York Times (Kim Severson) bucked the homeless-man-bites-bird coverage with a not-quite-heartwarming story about the people who take in turkeys who are somehow spared. Turkey rescue is problematic because the birds are often hostile and always messy. And the commercially-bred broad-breasted white variety of turkeys are prone to early obesity and a host of other ailments like arthritis and heart failure that often results in their early decline and death.
Turkeys for adoption generally come from rescue operations such as Farm Sanctuary (EIN 51-0292919 Form 990), a substantial $5 million operation with 76 employees and locations in upstate New York and northern California. One of the co-founders of Farm Sanctuary, Lorri Bauston, has started another farm animal rescue operation called Animal Acres (EIN 73-1720764 Form 990) in the Los Angeles area after her break up with the other co-founder Gene Baur. Animal Acres has been getting attention from prominent animal activists like Dennis Kucinich and Daryl Hannah. Mr. Baur receives compensation of $32,327 plus $5,796 in benefits in the year ended September 30, 2006. Ms. Bauston shows no compensation at all in 2005 (still the most current year available).
But the ultimate recipients of these animals are much more modest operations. Some are individuals, but some are small animal rescue operations and farms, a type of operation we have already talked about (Wildlife Rescue Charities Embody Private Vision, March 29, 2006). For instance, Star Gazing Farm (EIN 20-0882587 Form 990) in Montgomery County, Maryland is a tiny operation with no paid staff that leases land from its executive director Anne Shroeder.
The article also uncovers the fate of several of the turkeys that have been pardoned by the US President since the first President George Bush started that strange tradition in 1989. In recent years, pardoned turkeys have been snatched up by the Walt Disney Company (not a charity) to serve as grand marshals of a Thanksgiving parade either at Walt Disney World or Disneyland.
Apparently the National Turkey Federation (a business league, EIN 36-2033000 Form 990) is on board with the turkey pardon, seeing that the turkey rescue movement shows no signs of denting the demand for 45 million or so Thanksgiving turkeys nationwide (about a sixth of the annual US production of 250-300 million). Their press release notes that the President was also given two dressed turkeys.
Just for perspective, the turkey industry trade group has a budget of a mere $2 million, three-quarters of which comes from member dues. It has a staff of nine and its main function appears to be a national convention (2007: Tucson, 2008: San Diego). In 2006 its (outgoing) president Alice Johnson received compensation of $199,811 in salary and $18,135 in benefits and expense accounts.
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