Stamford, Let’s Talk Turkey: Parade Attendees to be Met With ‘Please, Let Me Live’ Plea
For Immediate Release:
November 13, 2025
Contact:
Alex Payne 202-483-7382
The giant balloons at this year’s Stamford Downtown Parade Spectacular will be a feast for the eyes, but PETA’s “turkey” will give the nearly 100,000 attendees some food for thought. The bird is making emotional appeals along the parade route to inspire people to think before they eat and give turkeys a break by opting for a vegan roast instead.
“Turkeys are thinking, feeling beings who enjoy caring for their young and roosting in trees, but those raised for Thanksgiving dinner spend their short lives confined to dark, cramped, filthy sheds before they’re violently killed,” says PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges everyone to let turkeys live in peace this holiday season and beyond by trying one of the many spectacular vegan roasts available at grocery stores nationwide.”
In nature, turkeys form strong bonds with their flockmates and spend their days building nests and foraging for food—but every year, approximately 46 million are killed 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 water in defeathering tanks—often while they’re still conscious.
PETA’s messages are up now and can be seen at 15 Bank St., 1 Greyrock Place, and 677 Washington Blvd., and along the parade route at:
- 73 Atlantic St. (near The Sandwich Maestro)
- 6 Bedford St. (near McDonald’s)
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 also offers a free vegan starter kit on its website for anyone ready to make the switch. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
