Man who drove thousands of miles to rescue turkeys from Thanksgiving dinner invites Americans to adopt one

LAKEWOOD, COLORADO - JANUARY 31: A wild turkey looks down Ammons Street in Lakewood, Colorado, on January 31, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) 

An animal lover who drove thousands of miles to save turkeys from becoming Thanksgiving dinner is inviting Americans to "adopt a turkey" this holiday to give the birds a loving home instead of a death sentence.  

Farm Sanctuary president, CEO and co-founder Gene Baur has been a pioneer in animal welfare since the 1980s in raising awareness about the harmful treatment of animals in the factory farm industry. Baur, who grew up eating meat, came into the movement as a young adult after learning about the mistreatment of animals. 

Now, the CEO invites Americans to try a new tradition and financially sponsor a rescued turkey instead of paying for a slaughtered one.  

"Around Thanksgiving there's all this publicity around eating turkeys and for me, as somebody who cares about animals, it was a difficult holiday because, for me, turkeys are not that different than cats or dogs or other animals in terms of their desire to live," Baur told Fox News Digital. "It's pretty difficult to be at a holiday feast where you have an animal, a dead body in the middle of the table. Can you imagine if that was a cat or dog, how people would respond to it? So, we wanted to do something different for Thanksgiving. We started a program to adopt turkeys and place them in good homes and when we first started, we literally drove across the country placing animals, rescued turkeys in homes from the East Coast, all the way out west to California." 

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LAKEWOOD, COLORADO - JANUARY 31: A wild turkey crosses Ammons Street in Lakewood, Colorado, on January 31, 2024. 

Turkeys are rescued from various places, sometimes given to the sanctuary as a result of cruelty cases.  

"Fundamentally, once they come to us, they're considered to be our friends, not our food," he said. "They’re companions, not commodities." 

Baur invited Americans to consider adopting a turkey. Instead of placing a dead turkey on the Thanksgiving table, he suggests replacing it with a picture of the rescued turkey. 

"You can have a turkey as part of your Thanksgiving but, the turkey would be considered to be an honored guest instead of the main course," he explained. 

A turkey is a classic Thanksgiving centerpiece.  (Amazon )

Ultimately, Baur emphasized that turkeys, like other animals, "have feelings" and "don’t want to be subjected to cruelty." 

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"At Farm Sanctuary, we have turkeys that have grown fond of people and are friendly, and will come up to you," he shared. "They're very curious and good-natured. We have turkeys when you go out in the barnyard, and you sit down, they'll jump on your lap. They'll follow you around like a puppy dog."