An other way for thanksgiving - with mercy - without turkeys
But that didn’t stop Jacobs, the director of DetroitCowSave, from organizing a protest outside the gates of the long-established turkey farm Saturday in an effort to raise awareness of animal cruelty.
Jacobs and about a dozen protesters spent an hour standing on 5 Mile Saturday, holding signs objecting to the operation less than a week before Thanksgiving.
“We just want to raise awareness there are other ways to celebrate Thanksgiving,” said Jacobs, who holds a bachelor’s degree in health services from Oakland University. “Sentient beings don’t have to be killed just for tradition.”
It was the second straight year DetroitCowSave picketed Roperti’s. A similar-sized group spent an hour in the same spot a year ago.
Roperti’s owner Christine Roperti was unfazed by the protest, shrugging it off as a group on an ultimately unsuccessful effort to change people’s thinking.
“They’re not going to change the world,” Roperti said. “If they want to be out there for an hour ... whatever. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Roperti questioned the tactics of the group, wondering if the group had protested Huron Turkey Farm (on Merriman Road in Romulus) — Jacobs acknowledged the group had not — or other similar businesses in the area.
“I think they’re actually harassing me,” said Roperti.
Laurice Bray founded DetroitCowSave, a grassroots organization dedicated to raising awareness about the suffering of factory farmed animals. She said the protest was not only about getting people to give up turkey for Thanksgiving, but it’s also about the treatment of the turkeys.
“We’re out here because we feel these turkeys are not unlike any other animal ... Turkeys are very intelligent,” said Bray, who grew up in Livonia and now lives in Farmington Hills. “We know we’re not going to change a lot of minds. Roperti’s is a Livonia institution. (But) People are going to (eventually) embrace a kinder, gentler lifestyle that doesn’t include killing animals.”
While Roperti dislikes the group’s methods — she claims they’ve lied to state inspectors about Roperti’s, for instance — she is unfazed by their presence and expects to sell some 4,500 turkeys this holiday.
“I like it when (protesters) come,” Roperti admitted. “(Customers) come running through the door when they’re here.”
bkadrich@hometownlife.com
Twitter: @bkadrich
(Photo: Brad Kadrich)
Courtney Jacobs acknowledges Roperti’s Turkey Farm is a Livonia icon, having done business in the city since 1967.But that didn’t stop Jacobs, the director of DetroitCowSave, from organizing a protest outside the gates of the long-established turkey farm Saturday in an effort to raise awareness of animal cruelty.
Jacobs and about a dozen protesters spent an hour standing on 5 Mile Saturday, holding signs objecting to the operation less than a week before Thanksgiving.
“We just want to raise awareness there are other ways to celebrate Thanksgiving,” said Jacobs, who holds a bachelor’s degree in health services from Oakland University. “Sentient beings don’t have to be killed just for tradition.”
It was the second straight year DetroitCowSave picketed Roperti’s. A similar-sized group spent an hour in the same spot a year ago.
Roperti’s owner Christine Roperti was unfazed by the protest, shrugging it off as a group on an ultimately unsuccessful effort to change people’s thinking.
“They’re not going to change the world,” Roperti said. “If they want to be out there for an hour ... whatever. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Roperti questioned the tactics of the group, wondering if the group had protested Huron Turkey Farm (on Merriman Road in Romulus) — Jacobs acknowledged the group had not — or other similar businesses in the area.
“I think they’re actually harassing me,” said Roperti.
Laurice Bray founded DetroitCowSave, a grassroots organization dedicated to raising awareness about the suffering of factory farmed animals. She said the protest was not only about getting people to give up turkey for Thanksgiving, but it’s also about the treatment of the turkeys.
“We’re out here because we feel these turkeys are not unlike any other animal ... Turkeys are very intelligent,” said Bray, who grew up in Livonia and now lives in Farmington Hills. “We know we’re not going to change a lot of minds. Roperti’s is a Livonia institution. (But) People are going to (eventually) embrace a kinder, gentler lifestyle that doesn’t include killing animals.”
While Roperti dislikes the group’s methods — she claims they’ve lied to state inspectors about Roperti’s, for instance — she is unfazed by their presence and expects to sell some 4,500 turkeys this holiday.
“I like it when (protesters) come,” Roperti admitted. “(Customers) come running through the door when they’re here.”
bkadrich@hometownlife.com
Twitter: @bkadrich
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