Harry Truman started the strange and funny custom
of pardoning a turkey on Thanksgiving in 1947. He was the head of
National Turkey Foundation and got the idea from President Lincoln
who did not had heart to kill a turkey his son Tad had reared and
had become very attached to. Ever since then, Presidential pardon
for a turkey ensures that it will not be slaughtered and die a
natural death. The turkeys that are to have this honor and get the
royal treatment are reared for six months before the occasion. There
are two turkeys reared for the purpose so the second one can fill up
the position if something happens to the first one.
At the last moment, one of them is chosen for the pardoning ceremony
and gets the public attention and gift of life while the other one
becomes the table centerpiece of the Thanksgiving Dinner at the
White House. After the ceremony in the Rose Garden, the royal bird
gets a lodging in Kidwell Farm, a petting zoo at Frying Pan Park in
Herndon, Virginia, where it is looked after well enough until it
dies a natural death of good old age. This funny Thanksgiving
tradition has found favor with animal activists who find kindness
and goodness in the trend that can stop the slaughtering of turkeys
throughout the world on this occasion.
