On Friday 19th December, Animal Justice Project campaigners took peaceful action inside Sainsbury’s in Norwich to ask a simple but confronting question: why, in a season centred on goodwill and compassion, are millions of turkeys still being killed for a festive meal?

Every year in the UK, around 11 million turkeys are slaughtered, with millions killed in the weeks leading up to Christmas alone. These birds are bred into existence only to be violently killed, their short lives defined by confinement, fear and suffering. Their reality is largely hidden behind festive packaging and tradition.

Taking Peaceful Action

To bring this hidden suffering into public view, campaigners entered the store and staged a peaceful sit-in near the fridges where turkeys were displayed for sale. At first, blocking the aisle before spreading out to engage shoppers more directly. We carried signs and distributed leaflets featuring powerful images of turkeys and asked the question: “Will you be their Christmas miracle?” Sitting on the ground, we created a moment of pause for shoppers passing by.

Supermarkets are where everyday ethical decisions are made, often quickly and without time to think. By sitting with our signs, we invited shoppers to consider the individuals behind a familiar Christmas ‘product.’ As expected, the response from shoppers was mixed. Some voiced anger and frustration, while others stopped to ask questions, take leaflets, or engage in thoughtful conversations about food choices. Security personnel intervened quickly and asked us to leave and the police were called. However, no officers attended the scene. After around 90 minutes, and once our message had reached a large number of shoppers, we chose to leave peacefully of our own accord.

Challenging a Christmas Tradition

Turkeys are intelligent, social animals who form bonds and experience fear and distress. Yet they are treated as seasonal commodities, bred to grow unnaturally fast and killed in slaughterhouses where speed takes priority over welfare. Their suffering is normalised because it happens every year. By taking action in-store, campaigners deliberately challenged a deeply ingrained Christmas tradition. Tradition, however, cannot justify cruelty, particularly when plant-based alternatives are widely available and increasingly popular.

Actions like this are about visibility and accountability. They exist to remind the public that behind every turkey sold is an individual who did not want to die. Christmas is often framed as a time of kindness, generosity and care for others. For turkeys, it is the deadliest time of year. This contradiction is exactly why we took action.

We do not need cruelty to celebrate. We do not need violence to bring people together. A plant-based Christmas is a powerful way to align our celebrations with compassion, spare lives, and begin building a kinder future. Each bird is someone, not something. This Christmas, we can choose to act like it.

As always, 

For the animals!

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