Britain’s luckiest turkey has survived the Christmas Day chop – for going on a 5k Parkrun.
Dave Brooker, 58, takes his beloved pet turkey Trouble Version Two, or T2 for short, everywhere with him – including to the pub and dentist.
Locals in Maidstone, Kent are often baffled as they see Mr Brooker sat alongside T2 in his car when they stop at traffic lights, or when he feeds her her favourite snack – the meat from a scotch egg – in the middle of a Tesco’s car park.
The turkey can also often be seen casually sitting in the town’s White Horse pub with a packet of cheese & onion crisps.
She has had such an effect on her owner over their three years together that he has now turned fully vegetarian.
And this year he took T2 on a Parkrun on Christmas Day to make people think twice about eating turkey.
“It just felt like a really fun idea,” Mr Brooker said.
“It might also make people think twice about eating turkey.
“I think they’re lovely animals. They’re very intelligent and sentient.
“It’s also a nice way to show her off.
“People love her. She stood outside Tesco with me yesterday and one little girl couldn’t believe she was seeing an actual turkey.
“People are always shocked to see a real turkey walking around.”
The unlikely duo’s story began when Mr Brooker, who keeps turkeys for their eggs, was forced to care for newborn T2 before she could return to her mother, Trouble.
“Her mum was sitting on a dozen eggs and the weather turned awful,” he explained.
“The first two that hatched died, so I set up a brooder to get the turkeys strong enough to go back under their mum.
“T2 was the first one out and I fed her for 10 or 11 hours.
“She was on her own with me checking on her and must have thought I was her parent.
“The others all went back underneath the mother quite easily, but not T2.
“Ever since, she literally goes everywhere with me. She’s like my child.
“There’s a mutual bond. She’s good company and entertaining – sometimes I even think she’s part human.”
Mr Brooker says he stopped eating turkey for Christmas dinner after his bond with T2 developed.
But for the past year the animal lover has gone fully vegetarian, referring euphemistically to December as the time of year when all the turkeys ‘go on holiday’.
“I don’t eat turkey anymore,” he said. “I used to, but I couldn’t now. Not with a pet turkey. It would be like someone eating dog.
“When you keep an animal it’s quite hard… Maybe if you’re a farmer you can switch off to it, but I’m a bit of a softy.
“Last year made me think about not eating meat at all.
“My relationship with T2 has definitely had a part to play in that.
“If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have gone vegetarian.
“You start realising just how intelligent these animals are.
“But people have to make their own choice about eating them.”
Keen runner Mr Brooker is convinced his Christmas Day foray – with T2 nestled in a pram borrowed from a friend – will surely be the first Parkrun to ever be completed by a turkey.
“This will be the first time she’s done a Parkrun, and I’m sure there’s no turkey in the world who has been pushed 5km in a pram on Christmas Day before.
“It’s going to be quite funny. People are going to go home to eat Christmas dinner after running alongside a turkey.
“A lot of people will probably go, ‘Is she for dinner?’… You’ll get some people ask that and it’s like, ‘No, she’s a pet’.
“I know a lot of people do Parkrun with their dogs, so why not with a turkey?”
On the menu for December 25 this year, Mr Brooker added: “I’ll have the normal roast, just with a veggie burger or something.
“My family will be having turkey. T2 will have cheese and biscuits because that’s one of her favourites these days.”
Though some people find the pair’s undeniably strong bond a little unorthodox, the pair are inseparable and even sleep in the same room together at their home in the village of Wouldham, Kent.
One of T2’s favourite outings is to the car park of the Tesco store in Tovil, Kent, where she feasts on her favourite snack – the meat from a scotch egg.
The only time the pair are separated is when Mr Brooker goes to work as an online order picker for Tesco.
T2 is such a feature in her owner’s life she even accompanies him to the dentist.
“I was at the dentist and I asked the receptionist if she could turkey-sit for me,” Mr Brooker said.
“She thought it was a joke, but then I brought T2 in. They all loved it.
“Most people think it’s really strange, but it’s actually a really good talking point.”
T2 is fast becoming a normal sight amongst locals, who frequently spot her sat alongside her owner in his car at traffic lights or at the pub for a pint.
“She draws quite a fair bit of attention from people,” Mr Brooker admitted.
“But she’s very well-behaved. At the pub, she sits on her blanket and stays there.
“Unlike most dogs who would run around, you sit her down with a pack of cheese & onion crisps and she’s happy.
“She’s very tame, very sociable and well-behaved. She doesn’t wander off and she lets people pet her.
“It just helps people think about turkeys in a different way, because most people actually haven’t seen a live turkey.”
Mr Brooker added he sometimes gifts people turkey eggs to let them try them, as he still keeps a flock of eight at the home of a friend.
But T2 is the only one who lives in his home with him and even shares his bedroom.
Mr Brooker added that his bond with T2 is as important as dogs and their owners, saying: “Some people might find it very strange, but some people have 70 cats and they don’t even clean up after them.
“I went through a bad spell of anxiety and depression back in 2014, and it’s helpful to have a bond like this with an animal.
“People are worried she’ll run away when I feed her in the Tesco car park – but she’d never do that.
“If we were all the same the world would be boring, and there’s a lot weirder things that happen than a man keeping a turkey.
“She just makes people smile, which I think is fantastic.”
