A vegan campaigner will run from dawn to dusk on the Winter Solstice in memory of the turkeys slaughtered for Christmas dinner this year. Rory Cockshaw, 21, an animal rights campaigner from Bristol, was inspired to organise the nearly eight-hour race after meeting a “gorgeous” turkey called Harriet earlier this year.
Rory, who will wear a hat shaped as a turkey for the challenge, has said he hopes to help people to “realise that veganism is possible” after going animal-free himself in 2020 – and prompting many of his family members to follow suit shortly after. “Hearing that farmers are trying to protect turkeys from bird flu so that they can be slaughtered didn’t sit right with me, especially after meeting a turkey myself,” Rory said.
“Twelve million turkeys were slaughtered in total in the UK in 2021, and 16 million were killed in 2020. I don’t think that’s very Christmassy.”
