Let Us Remember: The Pardoned Turkeys Who All Die Anyway

  • Share
  • Read Later

The President will pardon on Wednesday Caramel and Popcorn, two turkeys that will likely die anyway within the next year. This isn’t because they are old, but because we humans groom turkeys to be so fat that they die from obesity-related illnesses. Caramel and Popcorn, nearly 40 pounds, are larger than the largest wild turkey, and are two to eight times larger than the average. In sum: according to the White House, twenty-two turkeys have been pardoned and, according to National Journal, they are all dead, with only one surviving to the next Thanksgiving.

R.I.P. Caramel and Popcorn.

Screen Shot 2013-11-27 at 11.10.11 AM

WhiteHouse.gov

And “Cobbler”

rukey

Mandel Ngan / AFP / Getty Images

And “Courage”

President Obama Pardons Thanksgiving Turkey

Alex Wong / Getty Images

And “Flyer”

President George W. Bush, right, pets Flyer the turkey, held by Lynn Nutt, after giving the bird a Thanksgiving pardon in the Rose Garden of the White House on Wednesday, November 22, 2006.

Chuck Kennedy / MCT via Getty Images

And “Biscuits”

BUSH BISCUITS
Ron Edmonds / Associated Press

And “Jerry”

CLINTON PROCTOR FEIDT JEROME

Kenneth Lambert / Associated Press 

And “R.J.” (Robust and Juicy)

Ronald Reagan

Scott Stewart / Associated Press