Every Thanksgiving, a few fowl are symbolically spared from the American dinner table. While millions of cranberries and god-loving pumpkin pies are ruthlessly slaughtered by ravenous Americans attempting to avoid their cloying relatives by stuffing food down their throats, two fortuitous birds live to see another day, where they can once again become stuck on your roof.

The man behind such holiday benevolence is none other than the POTUS himself, Barack Obama. It's part of a Thanksgiving tradition dating back to the days of Abraham Lincoln (the guy in that movie that just came out), who would “pardon” two turkeys on the day of giving thanks.

While joie de vivre to some, PETA doesn't feel so warmly about the tradition. In fact, the group's president, Ingrid Newkirk, has asked the White House to abolish the practice, reports ABC.

"It makes light of the mass slaughter of some 46 million gentle, intelligent birds and portrays the United States' president as being in some sort of business partnership with the turkey-killing industry," Newkirk wrote in a letter sent to President Obama today. "Turkeys do not need to be 'pardoned'-they are not guilty of anything other than being born into a world of prejudice. They are innocents who should be respected for who they are: good mothers, smart birds, and interesting animals."

Newkirk brings up the President's sympathy for the plight of women, LGBT communities, and African Americans, and asks him to extend a similar hand to the animal world.

“I am asking you to consider other living beings who are ridiculed, belittled, and treated as if their sentience, feelings, and very natures count for nothing,” she wrote.

This isn't the first time PETA has tried to end the age-old tradition. Last year, it asked Washington to use the word “spare” instead of “pardon,” but the White House declined.

 stuck on your roof.

The man behind such holiday benevolence is none other than the POTUS himself, Barack Obama. It's part of a Thanksgiving tradition dating back to the days of Abraham Lincoln (the guy in that movie that just came out), who would “pardon” two turkeys on the day of giving thanks.

While joie de vivre to some, PETA doesn't feel so warmly about the tradition. In fact, the groups president, Ingrid Newkirk, has asked the White House to abolish the practice, reports ABC.

"It makes light of the mass slaughter of some 46 million gentle, intelligent birds and portrays the United States' president as being in some sort of business partnership with the turkey-killing industry," Newkirk wrote in a letter sent to President Obama today. "Turkeys do not need to be 'pardoned'-they are not guilty of anything other than being born into a world of prejudice. They are innocents who should be respected for who they are: good mothers, smart birds, and interesting animals."

Newkirk brings up the President's sympathy for the plight of women, LGBT communities, and African Americans, and asks him to extend a similar hand to the animal world.

“I am asking you to consider other living beings who are ridiculed, belittled, and treated as if their sentience, feelings, and very natures count for nothing,” she wrote.

This isn't the first time PETA has tried to end the age-old tradition. Last year, it asked Washington to use the word “spare” instead of “pardon,” but the White House declined.

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