[This is NOT an advertisement!]
Choke-a-Duck & Choke-a-Turkey
Our local garden centre has a Christmas toy department, in which these two products held pride of place, when I visited today. In my opinion, they are, at best, tasteless and are likely to encourage disrespect for animals, which is part of the desensitising process that can lead to real-life animal abuse . . .
. . . and even child cruelty or adult abuse - the link between animal abuse and violence within the family is well-established - ref.:
http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/research/Findings/understandingthelinks_wda48278.html
http://www.pet-abuse.com/pages/abuse_connection.php
http://www.americanhumane.org/about-us/newsroom/fact-sheets/understanding-the-link.html
Even the language used on the packaging is graphic, violent and abusive.
"Grab and lift him by the neck while dancing - he will scream and cluck like mad, flapping his wings as he is gagging and choking!"
Of course, when a bird's neck is wrung, as will be the fate of a massive number of birds this Christmas, killed for those who eat meat, it will kick and scream and flap.
We have asked for these 'toys' to be taken off display. We shall see.
However, they are available worldwide, imported to the UK by:
Premier House
Braintree Road
Ruislip
Middlesex HA4 0EJ
Telephone: 020-8624 5555
Fax: 020-8624 5678
E-mail: sales@premierdec.com
This company is a wholesaler, dealing only with retailers' orders of £2,000 or over.
The toys are also marketed as corporate stress-relieving gimmicks (executive toys), via many websites. Representative sites, picked at random off Google, are:
http://info-x.co.uk/gadget_166.asp
http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20061022/vent-your-frustrations-on-the-choke-a-duck/
There is even a demonstration video, in case our imagination is non-functional! :
http://www.notjustballoons.co.uk/choke-turkey.html
These are novelty 'toys', marketed at a time when novelties usually sell well. My belief is that these items should not be marketed at all, for all the reasons mentioned in my first paragraph. My young daughter was horrified when she saw them - I hope others will be too.
http://www.alternativevet.org/welfare.htm
I encourage folk to ask retailers to remove them from display or to write to wholesalers and retailers. I shall e-mail Premier Decorations Ltd. I have notified PETA, VIVA and the NSPCC.
No-one likes a joke toy more than me (I'm a real sucker for them) but, when animal respect is at stake and a toy could lead to desensitisation of our children and to potential animal abuse, I have to lose my sense of humour.
Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?]