We won't take you for a ride down Hypocrisy Avenue by saying we don't eat meat and poultry products. This is a company of carnivores and no one here thinks tofurky even looks like the real thing. But there's a big difference between enjoying a turkey sandwich and subjecting the birds to brutal cruelty that would put a wicked smile on Jeffrey Dahmer's face.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) uncovered a shocking secret at a Butterball turkey plant in Ozark, Arkansas.

Between April and July 2006, PETA undercover investigators reported live birds whose legs were shoved into the metal shackles, from which they hang upside-down on their way to being slaughtered.

PETA's investigators also witnessed how live birds were "slammed against transport trucks and walls, punched and kicked, hung by broken legs, used as a punching bag, and even sexually assaulted—all either for "fun" or out of frustration. One worker crushed a live turkey's head under his shoe until her skull exploded, and another swung a bird so hard against a handrail that he exposed her spine. "

One way to help the turkeys (and other livestock) is to go vegetarian and stop consuming meat altogether. But if that is out of the question, and we don't fault you for that, you can sign PETA's petition to include the birds under the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA). turkeys may not have the nobility of horses, they are not endangered like the Giant Panda, but there is no excuse for cruelty. Click on the "Via" link below to sign the petition.