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Guilford’s colorful turkeys draw vegan protesters

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Vegans protested outside Gozzi’s Turkey Farms, 2443 Boston Post Road, Guilford, on Saturday.
Vegans protested outside Gozzi’s Turkey Farms, 2443 Boston Post Road, Guilford, on Saturday.Ed Stannard / Hearst Media Connecticut /

GUILFORD — The brightly colored turkeys — pink, purple, orange, yellow — strutting around their pen at Gozzi’s Turkey Farms on Saturday drew more than families coming to view their vivid hues.

A group of about 15 vegans lined the road outside the farm at 2443 Boston Post Road to stand up for what they called the turkeys’ rights not to be dyed, killed and eaten.

“They dye them from head to foot in colors as entertainment,” said Violet, a Guilford resident who wouldn’t give her last name, adding that the locally famous attraction turns the turkey into “commodities to draw in customers. It’s cruel and turkeys deserve dignity.”

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“We want to also call attention to the disconnect of using sentient creatures as a ploy for business,” Violet said, calling the dyed turkeys “circus freaks.” “We believe that it’s harmful and it’s harassment.”

Vegans will neither eat animals nor use any animal products, such as leather clothing.

“Veganism is the future,” said Ryan Sam of South Windsor. “We promote veganism because there’s no reason to eat any animal-based product. Protein is in nearly everything we eat.

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“Dyeing of turkeys is cruel,” Sam said. “We don’t need to keep this tradition of eating turkeys. Millions and millions of turkeys are dying just for this tradition.”

They’re cold. They shouldn’t be out here … and they shouldn’t have been dunked and dyed like that,” said Nancy Correa of Wethersfield. “This is just egregious to me.”

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“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Kara Papa of North Branford. “I think really what they’re protesting against is large-scale factory farming, and local farms treat their animals fairly … humanely, lovingly. … I think it’s a gray area.”

Greg Ehrhardt of Prospect said the protesters’ message was “a fair point of view in my opinion. Animals don’t get spoken up for enough.” But he said the dyed turkeys “have ample room. It looks like they’re well fed, well taken care of.” Ehrhardt also made the distinction between small farms like Gozzi’s and large factory farms where turkeys are tightly penned in.

Bill Gozzi, third-generation owner of the Guilford farm, would not comment about the protesters or say how the turkeys are dyed.

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Contact Ed Stannard at edward.stannard@

hearstmediact.com or 203-680-9382.

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Ed Stannard was formerly a reporter with the New Haven Register. His beats included Yale University, religion, transportation, medicine, science and the environment. He grew up in the New Haven area and has lived there most of his life. He received his journalism degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and earned a master’s degree in religious studies from Sacred Heart University. He was formerly an editor at the New Haven Register and at the Episcopal Church’s national newspaper.

He loves the arts, travel and reading.