A live turkey was in the governor's office Tuesday, as Gov. Mark Dayton conducted the annual Thanksgiving rite of pardoning a bird and noting the donation of tons of meat to food shelves.
The tom turkey that came to the Capitol is pardoned, at least until tomorrow, the turkey folks said.
Minnesota is the nation's top turkey producer, raising an estimated 47 million this year, Dayton said.
The Minnesota Turkey Growers was at the event, announcing it is donating 1,180 turkeys, weighing a total of more than 11,000 pounds, to food shelves this year.
And after the event, Tom Scheck at MPR tweeted this odd quote from Turkey Growers President Duane Jaenicke: "Our turkeys eat better & live in safer environments than the farmers who produce them."