The Honorable Jesse Ventura
Governor of Minnesota
130 State Capitol
St. Paul, MN 55155

Dear Governor Ventura:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is an international nonprofit organization with more than 600,000 members dedicated to ending animal suffering. For most of us, the holiday season is a time of joy. For turkeys, however, it can mean shocking cruelty. Today, we present you with evidence of such cruelty occurring on a turkey farm in New London, Minn., in hopes that you will help lessen the suffering that these birds endure by condemning the cruel behavior shown in our video.

Our investigation into Crestview Farm during October and November of this year documents a farm manager ineptly wringing the necks of some turkeys and cruelly bludgeoning dozens of others with a thin metal rod, which he calls his "killing stick," and a pair of pliers. Many survive for hours and suffer a slow and painful death. By no means can these killings be considered rapid and painless. For your review, we have enclosed the complaint and excerpts from the videotape that we submitted to the Kandiyohi County attorney’s office, requesting prosecution.

There is no excuse for the abuse depicted in our videotape. As governor of the top turkey-slaughtering state and the second leading state in turkeys raised, we hope that after reviewing the materials, you will be moved to help prevent such atrocities from occurring in the future by making a public statement condemning such cruelty and by urging the Kandiyohi County attorney’s office to press charges.

Please contact us should you have any questions. I can be reached at 757-622-7382. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

 

 

Cem Akin
Research Associate
Research, Investigations & Rescue Department