Turkey's Thanksgiving is a trip to Disneyland

WASHINGTON — Every November, the president of the United States is presented with the National Thanksgiving Turkey — and promptly issues it a formal pardon.

But unlike the turkeys reprieved over the past 15 years, this year's bird will not be sent to live out its final days at Frying Pan Park, an animal farm in the Washington, D.C., suburbs. Instead, this afternoon, the 35-pound presidential turkey is going to Disneyland. On United Flight 197. First class.

With a contentious Congress in recess, some might speculate that the turkeys are benefiting from the benevolence of a capital in seasonal good cheer. But the travel plans may have more to do with a letter-writing campaign sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals, along with some reports in the media, decrying the fate that befell the previously pardoned birds.

"We sent a letter to President Bush early last week, as we have for the last five years in a row, asking him to send the birds to a better environment than Frying Pan Park, where they shiver in a 10-by-10 shed with no mental or physical stimulation and tend to die within six months," said Bruce Friedrich, director of vegan campaigns for PETA. "Really, the pardon for the last 15 years has been more like a death sentence."

The park, an animal sanctuary in Herndon, Va., that re-creates a 1930s farm for visiting schoolchildren, denies that it has mistreated the turkeys, which it considers honored guests.

"The claims of poor or inhumane treatment were a little painful for our staff, because they take pride in the care of the animals," said spokeswoman Judy Pedersen. "Many of these turkeys are bred for the table. They don't tend to have a long retirement."

Disney said it scored the presidential turkey with a request to the National Turkey Federation, a Washington-based advocacy group, which has provided a Thanksgiving bird to the commander in chief since 1947.

On Thursday, the turkey will be honored as a grand marshal of Disneyland's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Brought up on a farm in Henning, Minn., the turkey will live out its days at Santa's Reindeer Ranch in Frontierland — and have something to be thankful for.