Police Warn Not To Eat Dumpster Turkeys

The Falmouth Maine Police Department posted a perplexing statement on their Facebook page November 20. "Turkey Warning: (yes for real)," it read. "If anyone had acquired a bird from some non-conventional manner from someone you don't know, discard and replace it."

 

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They revealed the strange and disturbing drama of one man's questionable crusade to deliver turkeys to all who were in need — by diving for those turkeys deep inside of a local dumpster.

The man then distributed the turkeys from the back of his large pickup truck. He failed to tell the recipients where he'd gotten them from, however. We're wondering how people failed to notice the bloated and odorous nature of the fowl, since they were probably, well... foul.

A local Hannaford grocery had earlier tossed around 1,400 pounds of meat — about 75 to 80 turkeys. The birds had "thawed and bloated" due to a refrigerator malfunction and were deemed unsafe to eat.

The dumpster diver happened upon them during a routine trash invasion, throwing as many of the birds as he could into his pickup. He didn't charge anyone for taking the turkeys — he simply gave them away.

"Bizarre as it is, we were just concerned for health reasons that someone did get some of these turkeys," Lieutenant John Kilbride said. "It's not a good idea to grab anything out of the dumpster and consume it."

The police decided to release the statement out of genuine concern that a dumpster bird might have gone unnoticed in a family home. "People may want to check to see if it's a dumpster turkey they are sitting up next to on Thursday or not," Kilbride advised. "There are definitely dumpster turkeys that could be served on the table."

If your turkey passes the test, meaning you bought it from a store instead of the side of the road, here are 35 creative ways to cook the bird for your Thanksgiving dinner.