Ahead of Thanksgiving, PETA has placed a thought-provoking appeal near the IHOP on Coldwater Road reminding everyone that vulnerable turkeys don’t want to be slaughtered for a fleeting taste of their flesh and encouraging diners to give birds a break by enjoying a delicious “ThanksVegan” feast instead.

“Turkeys are individuals who feel pain and fear, value their lives, and don’t consent to being confined, killed, and eaten,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is urging everyone to show a little mercy, keep turkeys off the table, and tuck into savory and satisfying vegan roasts that give everyone something to be thankful for.”

Turkeys are intelligent and social animals who, in nature, spend their days caring for their young, building nests, and foraging for food. Each year in the U.S., about 46 million turkeys—typically between 14 and 18 weeks old—are killed and sold for Thanksgiving alone. During their short lives, they’re forced to stand in their own waste and are bred to grow so large so quickly that their legs give out. At the slaughterhouse, 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.

A PETA investigation into Plainville Farms—a self-professed “humane” turkey supplier—revealed employees violently abusing turkeys, including a worker pretending to masturbate with a dying bird and another sitting on and pretending to rape a live turkey.

PETA’s “ThanksVegan” guide is packed with recipes, cooking tips, and everything else needed to enjoy a delicious, turkey-friendly holiday. In addition to sparing the lives of nearly 200 animals a year, everyone who goes vegan shrinks their carbon footprint and reduces their risk of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other ailments.

PETA’s message is located at 4444 Coldwater Rd. in Fort Wayne. It will also appear in South Bend and in Concord, North Carolina.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and offers a free vegan starter kit on its website. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.