PETA Wants Turkey, TX, to Change Its Name to “Tofurky”

Could a rural Panhandle town soon be known as “Tofurky,” Texas? It would if People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had its druthers.

As KCBD.com reported, the animal rights group wrote a letter to the mayor of Turkey, home of the Bob Wills Museum, asking that the West Texas town change its name for Thanksgiving.

In exchange for the town’s help in calling attention to the “suffering endured by turkeys,” PETA would treat the residents of “Tofurky” to a vegan holiday dinner, replacing the traditional poultry with the soy-based main course, which would be served alongside mashed potatoes made with vegan margarine.

PETA previously suggested Whitefish, Montana, change its name to “Sea Kitten,” a (still-active) campaign attempting to make fish more adorable by calling them “sea kittens.” The organization also recently proposed that San Francisco’s Tenderloin district become the “Tempeh” district.

As Bruce Tomaso of the Dallas Morning News’ Scoop Blog wrote, “Actually, what the animal-rights group probably wants is publicity, and I suppose we’re accommodating that desire.”

As of Monday night, KCBD had only gotten a “no comment” from Turkey mayor Pat Carson, but was planning on a follow-up today.

“This is just another publicity stunt for people who can’t stand that people actually eat meat and enjoy it,” Allen Corbin of KFYO radio declared. “Its [sic] never about the animals, its [sic] usually about themselves and how unhappy they are with their own lives.”

In any case, for the media-savvy, button-pushing PETA, generating both headlines and outraged reactions is like shooting sea kittens in a barrel.