Editorial: Turkeys flying first class? Say it isn’t so

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Forgive us if we don’t join in the general glee: Two Minnesota turkeys will receive presidential pardons this year and ride first-class to Disneyland in California where they will serve as grand marshals of the Thanksgiving Day parade.

We think this is taking a cute, annual tradition just a bit too far.

The birds were singled out by Pete Rothfork, a Melrose farmer and chairman of the National Turkey Federation for the special pardon. A Henning poultry veterinarian and his wife, James and Vicki Trites, raised them for their appearance at the nation’s capital this week.

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We allow that the cities of Melrose, Henning and the entire Minnesota Turkey Federation, which incidently is the turkey-raising leader with 46 million turkeys grown annually, will get some good publicity out of the stunt.

Not generally cynical in nature, we must ask who is paying for the pardoned turkey’s plane fare &045; first-class at that.

Pardoned turkeys typically end up at Frying Pan Park in Virginia, but these birds are being treated like royalty &045; to what purpose?

Perhaps an individual is paying for the turkeys’ special treatment, but if not … well there are certainly better ways to spend money, particularly in light of the hundreds of the thousands of people left homeless by natural disasters last fall.

We are not against a little lighthearted fun &045; a turkey or two should be pardoned for the smiles such an event brings

&045; but sending the birds first-class to California is going too far.