It is time that people realised just what they are eating on Christmas Day.

In an ideal world the turkey would spend its life of up to ten years, roosting in trees and flying at speeds of up to 50mph.

But in our world, that is so far from the truth. Farmers cram thousands of these artificially-inseminated birds into stinking, overcrowded sheds to fatten them for Christmas. Farmed turkeys can hardly walk let alone fly.

They spend their short lives, between 12 and 26 weeks, standing on wet and soiled litter that burns their skin, causing painful ulcers.

Many die because they never learn to reach the food and water points.

Many of the birds are fully conscious when their miserable lives come to an end, having their heads dipped into an electronically-charged water bath and their throats cut.

Please help the turkey next Christmas. Say no to cruelty and go veggie.

ROY ASHCROFT, Brownlow Street, Blackburn.