Ingrid Newkirk

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PETA's president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk
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PETA's president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk

Ingrid Newkirk (born July 11, 1949) is a British-born animal rights activist, author, and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the world's largest animal rights organization. She co-founded PETA in 1980 with American activist Alex Pacheco, and is the author of several books about animal liberation, including Free the Animals, You Can Save the Animals, and Making Kind Choices, which has a foreword by Sir Paul McCartney.

Newkirk is best known for the campaigns and stunts she organizes on behalf of PETA in order to promote animal rights and veganism. In her will, she has directed that her skin be turned into wallets, her feet into umbrella stands, and her flesh into "Newkirk Nuggets" and grilled on a barbecue. [1]

Contents

[edit] Early life

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Animal rights

Activists
Greg Avery · David Barbarash
Rod Coronado · Barry Horne
Ronnie Lee · Keith Mann
Ingrid Newkirk · Andrew Tyler
Jerry Vlasak · Robin Webb

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Animal liberation movement
Animal Rights Militia
BUAV · Great Ape Project
Justice Department
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Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
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Animal rights · Animal testing
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Britches
Cambridge University primates
Pit of despair · Silver Spring monkeys
Unnecessary Fuss

Writers/advocates
Steven Best · Stephen R.L. Clark
Gary Francione · Gill Langley
Tom Regan · Richard D. Ryder
Peter Singer · Steven M. Wise

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Animal experimentation
Animal Liberation Front
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Newkirk was born in England and grew up in New Delhi, India. In the 1970s, she worked for Montgomery County, Maryland, and then for the District of Columbia, as an animal protection officer and deputy sheriff, before becoming D.C.'s first female poundmaster in 1978. In 2003, talking about her job in Maryland, she said:

I would say, 'They are stepping on the animals, crushing them like grapes, and they don't care.' In the end, I would go to work early, before anyone got there, and I would just kill the animals myself. Because I couldn't stand to let them go through that. I must have killed a thousand of them, sometimes dozens every day. Some of those people would take pleasure in making them suffer. Driving home every night, I would cry just thinking about it. And I just felt, to my bones, this cannot be right. [1]

[edit] Criticism

Debra Saunders, a conservative newspaper columnist [2] and critic of Newkirk and PETA, argues that this statement shows that Newkirk advocates a double standard regarding the killing of animals. She writes, "PETA assails other parties for killing animals for food or research. Then it kills animals — but for really important reasons, such as running out of room."[3]

[edit] Relationship with the Animal Liberation Front

Newkirk herself has written about how she has frequently publicized actions carried out by activists in the name of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).[2]

She has been accused of having had advance knowledge of one ALF action. According to U.S. Attorney Michael Dettmer, writing during the trial of Rod Coronado who was charged (and later convicted) in connection with an arson attack at Michigan State University, Newkirk "arranged ... days before the MSU arson occurred" to have Coronado send her stolen documents and a videotape from the attack. [3]

[edit] Works

  • Making Kind Choices : Everyday Ways to Enhance Your Life Through Earth- and Animal-Friendly Living. St. Martin's Griffin (January 1, 2005) ISBN 0-312-32993-8
  • Peta 2005 Shopping Guide For Caring Consumers: A Guide To Products That Are Not Tested On Animals. Book Publishing Company (TN) (October 30, 2004) ISBN 1-57067-166-4
  • Speaking Up For the Animals. DVD, PETA, June 1, 2004
  • Free the Animals: The Story of the Animal Liberation Front. Lantern Books, 2000, ISBN 1-930051-22-0
  • You Can Save the Animals : 251 Simple Ways to Stop Thoughtless Cruelty. Prima Lifestyles (January 27, 1999) ISBN 0-7615-1673-5
  • 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You. Fireside (May 15, 1998) ISBN 0-684-83648-3
  • Compassionate Cook : Please don't Eat the Animals. Warner Books (July 1, 1993) ISBN 0-446-39492-0
  • Kids Can Save the Animals : 101 Easy Things to Do. Warner Books (August 1, 1991) ISBN 0-446-39271-5

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Millard, Rosie. "A human carrot in bright orange felt walks in, announcing itself as "Chris P Carrot'", New Statesman, October 6, 2003.
  2. ^ Newkirk, Ingrid. Free the Animals, Lantern, 2000.
  3. ^ Government Sentencing Memorandum of U.S. Attorney Michael Dettmer in USA v. Rodney Coronado, July 31, 1995, pp. 8-10.

[edit] References

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