‘Pardon Tom!’ Blitz of ‘ThanksVegan’ Appeals from PETA Urge Turkey-Friendly Holiday

For Immediate Release:
November 10, 2025

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

Ahead of Thanksgiving, PETA has plastered dozens of public transit shelters throughout the suburbs of Chicago with appeals urging viewers to leave birds in peace—not pieces—and enjoy a delicious “ThanksVegan” feast instead.

“Turkeys love their families and feel pain and fear just as we do, and they deserve better than to be slaughtered, stuffed, and served at the holiday table,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA is urging everyone to show turkeys a little mercy and tuck into savory vegan roasts that we can all be thankful for.”

Turkeys are doting parents and can live up to 10 years, but those raised for food are slaughtered within their first six months of life—and an average of 46 million are killed each year for Thanksgiving alone. Workers hang the young birds upside down, drag them through an electrified bath, slit their throats, and dump them into scalding-hot defeathering tanks—often while they’re still conscious.

In addition to preventing nearly 200 animals a year from enduring daily suffering and a terrifying death, everyone who goes vegan shrinks their carbon footprint and slashes their risk of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other ailments. PETA’s ThanksVegan guide is packed with recipes, cooking tips, lists of the best hearty meat-free roasts, and everything else needed to enjoy a delicious, animal-friendly holiday.

PETA’s appeals can be seen on bus shelters throughout the suburbs of Chicago, including Alsip, Berkely, Cicero, Crestwood, Des Plaines, Elmwood Park, Evergreen Park, Harwood Heights, Harvey, Hickory Hills, Hodgkins, Homewood, Lincolnwood, Melrose Park, Mount Prospect, Northlake, Oak Lawn, Palos Heights, River Grove, Schiller Park, and Stone Park.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.