Before you tuck into your Christmas turkey, you might want to read this

Turkeys are sensitive, aware and playful animals capable of a whole spectrum of emotions. They even develop strong friendships and social networks

With the holidays just around the corner, we are encouraged more than ever to show our compassion towards others, to think of those less fortunate than ourselves and to “do our bit” to give something back to society.

During the festive season, many of us come together with family and friends to celebrate, share our gifts and to feast on our Christmas dinner, the centrepiece of this often being the turkey.

Yet, while we share in this collective experience, many are unaware of the suffering that the animals, presented before us, have endured to get to our plates. This time of year is no fun for those animals that we eat to mark this special occasion.

Over 650 million turkeys are farmed each year, of these over 240 million are in the US and 240 million in Europe. The majority of these are raised indoors, crammed into barren sheds with many thousands of other birds. But do we really know anything about the individual that we are prepared to eat?

Domestication of the common turkey possibly began by the Indians of pre-Columbian Mexico. The birds were first taken to Spain about 1519, and from Spain they spread throughout Europe, reaching England in 1541. English colonists then introduced European-bred strains of the turkey to eastern North America in the 17th century. Turkeys were mainly bred for their beautifully coloured plumage until about 1935, after which the breeding emphasis changed to their meat qualities.

The domestic turkey retains many of the cognitive, social and emotive features of their wild ancestors, and given a free choice would choose to live in small flocks in wooded areas close to water sources – as their wild counterparts continue to do.

Turkeys are sensitive, aware and playful animals capable of a whole spectrum of emotions, and it is only when you allow yourself the time to get to know them that their true characteristics shine through.

Turkeys care for their babies, mums provide their chicks with shelter, teach them how to find food and vigorously defend them from predators. A mother turkey will build a safe nest  and here she will stay at night to protect her babies until they are old enough to fly, when she will take them into the safety of the trees to roost.

Turkeys are all individuals, each with their own personalities and preferences. They develop strong friendships and social networks with other turkeys and choose to spend time with close friends, eating, preening and sleeping together. Males have been observed to cooperate with each other during the breeding season, with turkeys who are brothers or half-brothers forming alliances to court and defend females.

At night, they take to the trees to sleep safely and in the morning they fly to the ground as the sun rises and call to their flock to let them know where they are allowing them to reunite.

Turkeys even “talk” to each other, communicating their needs and their emotional states in a way that other turkeys can understand. These include vocalisations to let others know if they have spotted an aerial or a ground predator, and calls to let each other know where they are or to call the flock back together. Such communications between mothers and their chicks facilitate the learning of social activities, and helps them to stay safe when mum sees danger.

Turkeys also communicate through “dance”. Males puff up their body feathers, flare their tails into a vertical fan and strut slowly while giving a characteristic gobbling call.

Turkeys have a desire to meet their natural instincts, just as we do. In the case of the turkey, this includes having the ability to develop friendships with other turkeys, range in search for their food, build a nest for their young, scratch the ground, dust bathe and roost in trees.

If we choose to “celebrate” Christmas by eating these highly complex, sentient birds, we must accept responsibility for their deaths and the suffering that many of them have endured during their short, often miserable lives.

Christmas is the perfect opportunity for us to show our compassion towards animals, and to choose non-animal, cruelty-free alternatives. With just a little “shopping around” you can find mouth-watering vegan alternatives, allowing you to enjoy your holiday without the guilt of causing animals to suffer. You can find out more about turkey substitutes here.

Please remember that our similarities to other animals are greater than our differences. Please spare a thought for the turkeys and other animals at this time and make that conscious decision to kick the cruelty out of your “festive cheer”.

Dave Neale is the animal welfare director at Animals Asia