Hold the dad jokes. Health risk keeps Gov. Cooper from pardoning NC turkeys

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will not pardon any turkeys this year, skipping the annual Thanksgiving ceremony due to concerns about avian flu.

For years, Cooper has pardoned two turkeys before Thanksgiving. Last year, Cooper pardoned two lucky birds named Biscuit and Tater at the Executive Mansion.

Meanwhile, over at the White House, President Joe Biden last year pardoned Chocolate and Chip, two North Carolina-raised turkeys, who were set to live out the rest of their lives at N.C. State’s Talley Turkey Education Unit. Turkeys are big business in North Carolina, one of the largest turkey-producing states nationally, according to the National Turkey Federation.

This year, the ceremony is being canceled due to concerns with the spread of avian flu, according to a Cooper spokesperson.

“We love the turkey pardon and celebrating Thanksgiving, but this year the N.C. Poultry Federation relayed concerns about transferring turkeys given the safety protocols farms currently have to prevent the spread of the avian flu,” Cooper spokesman Jordan Monaghan said in a statement shared with The News & Observer. WUNC first reported the canceled ceremony.

“We appreciate the contributions these businesses make to our economy and families across the country and hope to bring this event back in the future.”

The poultry industry “practices biosecurity guidelines year-round, and especially during times of avian influenza outbreaks,” said Bob Ford, executive director of the Poultry Federation, in an email to The N&O.

Outbreaks, he said, are more prevalent during the migratory season going on now in North Carolina for wild waterfowl like ducks and geese. North Carolina is on a migration route known as the Eastern Atlantic flyway. Recent outbreaks have spread in the upper Midwest and the Dakotas and cases have been reported in Canada and even in Mexico, he said.

“But we still maintain a high state of alert. We were sorry that we had to turn down the Governor’s invitation to do the official North Carolina state turkey pardon this year. Hopefully, we will be able to plan one for next year,” Ford said.

This annual pardoning ceremony in North Carolina has often been accompanied by smiles, dad jokes by Cooper and snazzy turkey names.

In 2018’s pardoning festivities, Cooper said First Lady Kristin Cooper had asked him this year if he had “any good turkey jokes. I said, ‘nah, I’ll just wing it.”

Despite North Carolina canceling the ceremony, the White House proceeded with its celebration, with Biden pardoning Minnesota turkeys named Liberty and Bell during the annual tradition that this year coincided with Biden’s 81st birthday.

North Carolina also partakes in another holiday tradition at the White House, often providing Christmas trees. This year, the state provided an 18-foot Fraser fir tree from Cline Church Nursery in Fleetwood.

Instead of the annual pardoning, Cooper is packing locally sourced meals for people in need at the nonprofit Equal Plates Project in Asheville on Wednesday afternoon, Monaghan said.