Every year in mid-October, the small town of Yellville, Arkansas holds an annual festival called the Turkey Trot. This local tradition goes back over 50 years and includes a controversial event – dropping live turkeys from an airplane flying over the festival.
The turkey drop has drawn national criticism from animal rights activists but continues to be an entrenched part of the Yellville Turkey Trot festival In this article, we’ll look at the origins of the turkey drop, the debates around it, and the future of this divisive custom.
What is the Turkey Drop?
The turkey drop involves releasing live wild turkeys from an airplane flying over Crooked Creek near downtown Yellville The plane flies approximately 600-700 feet over the creek as the turkeys are dropped The turkeys glide down and local children rush to catch them,
Up to 15 live turkeys have been dropped in recent years, usually from a small private plane piloted by an anonymous local resident dubbed the “Phantom Pilot.”
The turkey drop occurs during the annual two-day Turkey Trot festival held in mid-October. The festival draws around 4,000 spectators to the town of just over 1,000 residents.
Origins of the Controversial Tradition
The turkey drop is believed to have started in the 1960s as a whimsical highlight of the Turkey Trot festival. Some claim it was inspired by a famous 1978 episode of WKRP in Cincinnati, where turkeys were dropped from a helicopter as a radio station promotion.
For many local residents, the turkey drop is considered a quirky small-town tradition. But over the years it has increasingly drawn criticism and protests from animal welfare activists.
Animal Cruelty Concerns
Animal rights groups like PETA argue that dropping live turkeys from hundreds of feet in the air often results in injury and death for the birds.
They say turkeys suffer immense stress being launched into the air and that wild turkeys don’t normally fly at high altitudes. Activists have tried filing complaints with local police and the FAA, but no laws specifically prohibit dropping live animals from planes.
Defenders of the drop say the turkeys glide down without trouble and are caught by festival-goers waiting below. They view the turkey drop as harmless local fun rather than cruelty.
The Festival Continues
Despite outside protests, the Turkey Trot festival continues to feature a turkey drop most years. In 2015, the anonymous “Phantom Pilot” resumed the drops after a three-year hiatus.
In October 2017, around 20 live turkeys were dropped over the creek from a small plane registered to a local resident. Animal welfare groups on the ground reported finding injured birds.
While many in Yellville steadfastly defend the tradition, criticism of the turkey drop has impacted the festival. Some national sponsors have withdrawn support due to the negative publicity.
An Uncertain Future
The future of the controversial turkey drop remains uncertain. Long-time supporters in the community insist it is harmless fun and should continue indefinitely. But pressure from animal advocates continues to mount year after year.
Some expect local authorities will eventually have to intervene and prohibit the turkey drop on animal cruelty grounds. For now, the divisive tradition remains a unique part of Yellville’s annual Turkey Trot festival.
The turkey drop has brought national attention to this small rural town. But many question if negative publicity over animal welfare concerns will eventually force an end to this decades-old Ozark custom.
The Turkey Trot festival turkey drop has sparked lively debate between advocates of quirky rural traditions and opponents who view it as needless animal cruelty.
This divisive custom continues for now as an entrenched – if controversial – part of Yellville’s annual Turkey Trot festival. But the future of the turkey drop remains uncertain due to ongoing protests and pressure to end the practice on animal welfare grounds.
“A Thanksgiving story about the limits of human empathy.” – The Atlantic
Yellville, Arkansas, in the Ozarks, has had an annual October Turkey Trot Festival since the 1940s. As part of the festival, live turkeys are dropped from an airplane over the town. The Yellville Area Chamber of Commerce has either sponsored the “turkey drop” or stood back and let it happen on its own most years. We told you in the summer issue of Poultry Press that this year, the Mid-Marion County Rotary Club agreed to sponsor the festival “but only if no live turkeys are on the premises or dropped from airplanes,” said Stan Duffy, president-elect of the Rotary Club.
The Chamber of Commerce said in April that it would no longer support the festival because animal rights activists had caused too much bad press that was “harmful to local businesses.” ”.
So this year, October came and went with no word about the festival.
But in November, an article about the Yellville “turkey drop” was published on The Atlantic magazine’s website. In “Tossing a Bird that Does Not Fly Out of a Plane,” journalist Annie Lowrey describes her visit to this year’s festival, where “much to the dismay and consternation of many locals – there are no live turkeys. None in a cage towed behind a pickup. None thrown from the courthouse roof. None pitched off the bandstand and picked up by screaming teenagers. And none dropped out of an airplane.”
In a United Poultry Concerns blog post from October 14, 2015, we linked to a photo-article from the National Enquirer on December 5, 1989, called “Helpless Birds Crippled The panicked animals try to right themselves. Some catch a gust. Others do not. Some die when they hit the ground. Others survive with broken bones. Yet others are grievously injured when they are fought over by local kids. Some perish of apparent shock. ”.
Many people who live in the Ozarks work in chicken slaughterhouses, where Lowrey shows how people are being abused and animals are in pain all the time. People in the area say they don’t understand why animal rights activists are so focused on the turkey drop, which only affects a few turkeys, when thousands of turkeys are killed every day for meat. Many of these people may be against dropping turkeys from airplanes, but they defend or don’t care what turkeys go through to be eaten.
The “limits of empathy” in most people include her own attitude, Lowrey writes. It comes down to this: “The Turkey Trot is a carnival of gross and tasteless excess, but Thanksgiving is just Thanksgiving.” ”.
Lowrey’s touching story about meeting George, a turkey in Yellville, is tucked away in the article. George survived being thrown from a plane and now lives with a family who loves and respects him. Paul, George’s friend, made it through the plane crash but died soon after arriving at this peaceful haven. George has been sad since losing his friend.
Lowrey’s way of dealing with this sadness is both kind and kind of funny, as if her own kindness and the feelings of an animal (turkey or otherwise) can’t or shouldn’t be taken too seriously. It looks like most people only care about one or two animals, not thousands or millions of them. It’s not clear what the “limits of empathy” theory means, though, because many people who care about one animal also care about all the “anonymous” ones.
There were no turkeys at this year’s festival, but Keith Edmonds of the Chamber of Commerce told Lowrey afterward, “You know, this year there were turkeys released from a plane.” It was just kept quiet, I guess. They let them go on Friday at the southern edge of the city, and I’m not sure if or how many were let go on Saturday. ”.
Lowrey: “Do you know anybody who might have either seen it happen or picked up the birds?”
Edmonds: “I just know about it from a Facebook post. No idea.”
This tip takes her to Yellville resident Wesley Shipman, who says, “Nothing was hurt or anything. I never even got out of my vehicle. ”.
Instead of throwing birds from an airplane this year, they were thrown off the back of a truck. It was a “small, private bird-throwing event for dedicated locals.” ”.
Shipman, “It’s nothing official, so everybody goes away happy.”
Butterball is constructing a huge new turkey slaughter plant just outside of Yellville. As long as people eat turkey and other farm animals, there will always be “Hellville,” which includes “sports” that come naturally to cultures that kill animals.
Turkey Manhandled by Crowd at Sadistic Arkansas ‘Turkey Drop’
FAQ
Where is the best turkey hunting in Arkansas?
What is a turkey drop?
Are there wild turkeys in Arkansas?
Are there always turkeys to be rescued around Thanksgiving?
There’s always turkeys to be rescued around Thanksgiving.” She knelt down to smooth his feathers. “It just is not the same for him.” That George had recovered from the turkey drop but not from the death of his friend. That he had physically recovered, but was emotionally devastated.
Do processing plants kill turkeys for Thanksgiving?
And seven days a week, workers in processing plants are helping to kill, gut, pluck, and truss turkeys for Thanksgiving tables around the country. Here in Yellville this cold and rainy weekend, there are turkeys everywhere—turkey shirts and turkey costumes and turkey paraphernalia. There is a raffle giving away birds for Thanksgiving dinner.
Is the turkey trot just Thanksgiving?
The Turkey Trot is a carnival of disgusting and tasteless excess, but Thanksgiving is just Thanksgiving. Of course, none of this incongruity was lost on the people in Yellville, many of whom keep animals at home and work in turkey-processing plants and grew up on farms.