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For Immediate Release
October, 13 2009, 05:01pm EDT
Contact:
Meredith Turner, Farm Sanctuary, 646-369-6212, mturner@farmsanctuary.org
Farm Sanctuary and Actress Ginnifer Goodwin Urge Public to Adopt-A-Turkey and Save a Life This Thanksgiving
Nation’s Leading Farm Animal Protection Organization Announces “Big Love” Star Ginnifer Goodwin as 2009 Adopt-A-Turkey Project Spokesperson
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.
This
Thanksgiving,Farm Sanctuary, the nation's leading farm animal
protection organization, is teaming up with actress Ginnifer Goodwin, star of
HBO's "Big Love," to launch their annual Adopt-A-Turkey Project, a national program designed to end the misery of
commercially-raised turkeys by educating the public about the horrific
cruelties endured by these sentient beings and offering a compassionate
alternative for Thanksgiving.
Each year 250 to 300 million turkeys are slaughtered for
food in the U.S.- more than 45 million for Thanksgiving alone- resulting
in thousands of birds being tightly confined in dark, filthy sheds, debeaked
and detoed without anesthetic and bred to reach a crippling weight at
an unnaturally fast rate.
"After spending time with the rescued turkeys at Farm Sanctuary's shelter and seeing how similar
they are to my furry companion animals at home, I knew I needed to do
everything in my power to protect these friendly and curious birds from the daily
pain and suffering they endure on factory farms," said Goodwin. "With
so many delicious, cruelty-free Thanksgiving dishes available, there is no
reason why any living being should be treated like an unfeeling commodity. I encourage
everyone to start a new, compassionate Thanksgiving tradition this year and Adopt-A-Turkey, rather than eat
one."
Have a Heart, Adopt-A-Turkey
Since 1986, the Adopt-A-Turkey Project has led
to the rescue of more than one thousand turkeys and shifted public attitudes
toward this Native American bird by offering thousands of people the
opportunity to "adopt" a turkey who lives at one of Farm
Sanctuary's two shelters in New York and
California for
a one-time $25 donation. Turkey
sponsors receive a special Adopt-A-Turkey certificate with a color photo of
and fun details about their new friend. Every November a new set of "spokesturkeys"
are unveiled and their peppy personalities and enthusiastic pleas for adoption
have made even the staunchest meat-eaters reconsider what they eat on
Thanksgiving and throughout the year. This year, six special rescued birds
named Bubbles, Mello, Rhonda, Gideon, Olive and Hawthorn will vie for the
hearts of potential adopters.
All Aboard! The Turkey Express
For those who would like to provide a lifelong home for
rescued turkeys, Farm Sanctuary staff
will personally deliver turkey companions to approved adopters via the Turkey Express, an
annual adoption event that has enabled the organization to
place more than 500 rescued turkeys into safe, permanent and loving homes
throughout the country.
"We are thrilled to announce Ginnifer Goodwin as our
official 2009 Adopt-A-Turkey Project spokesperson," said Farm Sanctuary President and Co-Founder Gene Baur. "Her love and compassion for all animals makes her the perfect
spokesperson for individuals who have been unfairly denigrated and suffered
severe cruelty. She will impact the lives of turkeys everywhere by
shedding light on their feelings and the plight of factory farmed animals, and by
encouraging citizens to consider compassionate alternatives."
To learn more about Farm
Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey
Project,
access helpful holiday resources- including recipes, videos and
literature- and view the 2009 "Turkey Adoption List," as well
as adoption applications, please visit www.adoptaturkey.org
or call 1-888-SPONSOR.
Farm Sanctuary fights the disastrous effects of animal agriculture on animals, the environment, social justice, and public health through rescue, education, and advocacy.
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BREAKING: a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to immediately release on bail Rumeysa Ozturk, a Muslim grad student at Tufts University who was abducted and abused by ICE agents, all because she wrote an editorial, yes, an editorial, critical of the Israeli government's genocide.
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— CAIR (The Council on American-Islamic Relations) ( @cairnational.bsky.social) May 9, 2025 at 11:12 AM
"There is no evidence here as to the motivation, absent consideration of the op-ed, so that creates unto itself a very significant substantial claim that the op-ed—that is, the expression of one's opinion as ordinarily protected by the First Amendment—form the basis of this particular detention," the judge continued, adding that Öztürk's "continued detention potentially chills the speech of the millions and millions of people in this country who are not citizens."
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Seeing that Öztürk was still in ICE custody hours after his order, Sessions reiterated his directive Friday afternoon.
"In light of the court's finding of no flight risk and no danger to the community, petitioner is to be released from ICE custody immediately on her own recognizance, without any form of body-worn GPS or other ICE monitoring at this time," the judge wrote.
Multiple media outlets reported Öztürk's release Friday afternoon.
Mahsa Khanbabai, Öztürk's attorney, toldCourthouse News Service she's "relieved and ecstatic" that her client has been ordered released.
"Unfortunately, it is 45 days too late," Khanbabai lamented. "She has been imprisoned all these days for simply writing an op-ed that called for human rights and dignity for the people in Palestine. When did speaking up against oppression become a crime? When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?"
The Trump administration has dubiously invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows the president to detain dor deport citizens of countries with which the U.S. is at war, in a bid to justify Öztürk's persecution. The administration has also cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which empowers the secretary of state to order the expulsion of noncitizens whose presence in the United States is deemed detrimental to U.S. foreign policy interests.
"When did speaking up against genocide become something to be imprisoned for?"
Secretary of State Marco Rubio—who lied about Öztürk supporting Hamas—has used such determinations to target people for engaging in constitutionally protected speech and protest.
"We do it every day," Rubio said in March in defense of the policy. "Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas."
Rubio has invoked the law to target numerous other students who the government admits committed no crimes. These include Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Yunseo Chung—all permanent U.S. residents—as well as Ranjani Srinivasan and others. Far-right, pro-Israel groups like Betar and Canary Mission have compiled lists containing the names of these and other pro-Palestine students that are shared with the Trump administration for possible deportation.
Foreign nationals—and some U.S. citizens wrongfully swept up in the Trump administration's mass deportation effort—are imprisoned in facilities including private, for-profit detention centers, where there are widespread reports of poor conditions and alleged abuses.
These include denial of medical care, insufficient access to feminine hygiene products, and rotten food at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, where Öztürk—who, according to Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), has received no religious or dietary accommodations and had her hijab forcibly removed—is being held.
Öztürk also suffers from asthma and told Sessions via Zoom Friday that her attacks have increased behind bars due to stress. Dr. Jessica McCannon, a pulmonologist, testified that Öztürk's asthma appears to be poorly controlled in ICE custody, according to
courtroom coverage on the social media site Bluesky by freelance journalist Joshua J. Friedman.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was among those who on Friday demanded Öztürk's immediate release, while other lawmakers and human rights and free speech defenders celebrated Sessions' decision.
"Rümeysa Öztürk has finally been ordered released," Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said on social media. "She has been unlawfully detained for more than six weeks in an ICE facility in Louisiana, more than 1,500 miles away from Somerville. This is a victory for Rümeysa, for justice, and for our democracy."
In the United States, we guarantee free speech. No one here will lose their rights and freedom for publishing an op-ed. This is a win for the rule of law. Rümeysa is free!
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— Representative Becca Balint ( @balint.house.gov) May 9, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Seth Stern, director of advocacy at Freedom of the Press Foundation, said in a statement that "it is unfathomable that in the United States legal system, it takes 45 days for a judge to rule that people can't be put behind bars for writing op-eds the government doesn't like."
"Without a system committed to its principles, the Constitution is just words on paper, and they don't mean much if this can happen here," Stern continued. "Öztürk's abduction and imprisonment is one of the most shameful chapters in First Amendment history."
"We're thankful that Judge Sessions moved it one step closer to an end and we call on the Trump administration to release Öztürk immediately and not attempt to stall with any further authoritarian nonsense," he added.
Amid President Donald Trump's defunding threats and pressure from ICE officials, universities have told "many hundreds" of international students that they have lost their immigration status and must immediately self-deport. These notifications were based on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) termination of students' records on the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a database used by schools and authorities to access visa information.
Although DHS admitted in court that it had no authority to use SEVIS to revoke students' status, the Trump administration still canceled more than 1,800 visas before reversing course last month pending an ICE policy revamp.
In addition to moving to deport pro-Palestine students, the Trump administration is sending Latin American immigrants—including wrongfully expelled Maryland man Kilmar Abrego García—to a notorious prison in El Salvador, and the president has repeatedly threatened to send natural-born U.S. citizens there.
As with Öztürk and other detained students, the Trump administration has dubiously invoked the Alien Enemies Act in trying to deport García and others. However, federal judges—including multiple Trump appointees—have thwarted some of these efforts.
On Friday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said that Trump and his advisers are "actively looking at" suspending habeas corpus as a means of overcoming judicial pushback against the administration's deportation blitz.
"Well, the Constitution is clear—and that of course is the supreme law of the land—that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion," Miller told reporters at the White House. No foreign entity has invaded the United States since Japanese forces landed in the Aleutian Islands in the then-territory of Alaska during World War II.
Critics pointed out that Miller's proposal is, in fact, blatantly unconstitutional.
"Since it appears needs to be said: The authority to suspend habeas corpus lies with Congress, not the president, and is only legal during extreme circumstances of rebellion or invasion," Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott said on Bluesky. "Stephen Miller is full of shit."
It wasn't just Democrats and Palestine defenders who cheered Sessions' ruling Friday. Billy Binion, who covers "all things injustice" for the libertarian website Reason, said on social media that the government's "entire case against her is that... she wrote an op-ed."
"Hard to overstate how bleak—and frankly embarrassing—it is that the Trump administration wants to jail and deport someone for speech," he continued. "In America."
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