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PETA Ads Targeting Kids: Don't Eat Turkey On Thanksgiving

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - An animal rights group plans to put up billboard advertisements near Sacramento public schools meant to discourage kids from eating turkey on Thanksgiving.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is behind the effort. The message is directed toward kids and reads, "If you wouldn't eat your dog, why eat a turkey?" The message is accompanied by a picture of a turkey with the head of a dog.

PETA wants to put the advertisements on billboards as close to area schools as possible. PETA says the ads are meant to spark a conversation between parents and kids about the abuses turkeys go through before they are killed and eaten.

Gallery: PETA Ads For Kids

PETA is still in talks with local billboard advertisers on where the ads will go, but we could see them popping up around town by this weekend. The group also plans to advertise the message in Boise and Reno.

In a press release, PETA said 45 million turkeys are killed each Thanksgiving. In nature, the birds are protective and loving parents as well as spirited explorers who can climb trees and run as fast as 18 miles per hour, PETA said. But most turkeys slated to be killed for food are crammed into filthy warehouses, where disease, smothering and heart attacks are common.

Turkeys are drugged and bred to grow such unnaturally large upper bodies that their legs often become crippled under the weight, the animal group said.

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