# Are "pardoned" turkeys actually saved? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 22, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953 "2008-11-22T03:35:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/1 "2008-11-22T03:35:56Z")
The President, and apparently some governors (Sarah Palin recently participated in the ceremony) have a tradition of issuing a “pardon” for a turkey. Are these turkeys actually saved, or are they simply killed once the cameras stop rolling? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/2 "2008-11-22T03:39:55Z")
The pardoned turkey goes to live on a farm somewhere, I’ve read, and is not killed… at least that year. But the President’s family eats another turkey anyway, so it’s a hollow ritual. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/3 "2008-11-22T03:41:48Z")
They go [here](http://www.thenewstribune.com/soundlife/story/539396.html). ---
**Author:** ![bkmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@bkmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bkmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/4 "2008-11-22T18:03:22Z")
The answer is yes - at least for the one pardoned by the President. There are actually two turkeys brought to DC each year. They have a second one on standby in case there is a problem with first. After the ceremony, both of the birds end up going to a local park that has some other animals. It is unlikely that you will find a lot of pardoned turkeys around, however. Because these are production birds, their lifespan is pretty short - usually less than 2 years. And it looks like Johny L.A. was a llittle more timely - it looks like they have a newer home than the place used in years past. They get to go to Disneyworld… ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/5 "2008-11-22T18:11:38Z")
Pardoned Turkeys? What next? Rattlesnakes given the freedom of Chicago, Skunks given the keys to Boston. Only in America, the mind truly boggles 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/6 "2008-11-22T18:37:39Z")
[Turkey Pardons, The Stuffing of Historic Legend](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112002331.html?sid=ST2007112002354): A Presidential Tradition Began Way Back but Not So Long Ago. From [page 4](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112002331_4.html?sid=ST2007112002354): > [@](#): > > Somewhere along the way, someone got confused, or decided to puff the ritual up with some pardon-flavored stuffing. > > But here, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, is the straight story, gleaned from the public papers of past presidents at the American Presidency Project: > > The first officially pardoned bird debuted not in 1947 but in 1989 on the first Thanksgiving of George H.W. Bush. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/7 "2008-11-22T19:46:33Z")
This year’s pardoned Presidential bird is a local! [Story here.](http://www.webstercitynews.com/) According to the article, several birds were chosen in July and were raised separately from the others so that they’ll know how to behave around paparazzi. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/8 "2008-11-22T19:58:57Z")
Am I the only one who sees this whole turkey-pardoning thing as disturbingly similar to: “Wewease Wodger!” “Wewease Bwian!” Everyone else is gonna die but some lucky random sumbitch is going free for no good reason. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/9 "2008-11-22T20:02:56Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Am I the only one who sees this whole turkey-pardoning thing as disturbingly similar to: > “Wewease Wodger!” > “Wewease Bwian!” > > Everyone else is gonna die but some lucky random sumbitch is going free for no good reason. When I saw your name I immediately thought of a turkey with a score to settle. ‘My name is Meleagris Gallopavo. You killed my father. Prepare to die.’ ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/10 "2008-11-22T23:04:43Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > My name is Meleagris Gallopavo. You killed my father. Prepare to die. Me: You have to be more specific than that. Turkey: What? Me: The day your father was honored to be my dinner was the biggest day of your life. For me… It was Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-pardoned-turkeys-actually-saved/473953/11 "2008-11-23T17:04:58Z")
> [@](#): > > May and Flower have no worries about predators, of course. They don’t even have to put up with roommate problems: When they didn’t get along with the cow in their original exhibit, they were moved to their own private quarters. (from Johnny’s link) I wonder what kind of problems they had with the cow?