A turkey farm in Exeter, UK, has been targeted by militant vegans for offering families the chance to name and care for their bird until it is slaughtered.
Staff have been branded murderers and received death threats since Greendale Farm Shop advertised the pick-your-own service on Facebook.
The post on Sunday attracted more than 4 000 comments, mostly from the “Vegan Mafia”. Farm owner Matt Carter was called “twisted”, “psychopathic” and a “murderer”.
Others rallied to his defence and thanked him for giving them the opportunity to educate their children about the circle of life.
Carter, 35, has offered shoppers the chance to select their Christmas turkey from his flock. They name, feed and look after it for two months until it is slaughtered, stuffed and handed to them oven-ready.
Shop workers have received death threats and insults from people identifying themselves as the Vegan Mafia, he said. One caller said staff “should be the ones being killed” instead of the “innocent animals”.
On Monday staff found “Murder! Go vegan” had been sprayed on the front door. Pheasants ready for sale had also been sprayed with the bright blue paint.
Carter, whose family has farmed in Exeter for five generations, said: “I’m not going to remove the post or stop being a farmer because we’ve had a bit of opposition from vegan groups.
If you are going to eat meat, I think our way is the best way of doing it, where you can see the animals and then go to the butchers and buy the meat.”