Ingrid Newkirk

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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, which the writer commented as a "grisly stunt".^[1]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Relationship with the Animal Liberation Front 3 Quotation 4 Works 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References

[edit] Early life

Ingrid 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]

Debra J. Saunders, who is a 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."[2]

[edit] Relationship with the Animal Liberation Front

Animal rights Activists Greg Avery · David Barbarash Rod Coronado · Barry Horne Ronnie Lee · Keith Mann Ingrid Newkirk · Andrew Tyler Jerry Vlasak · Robin Webb Groups/campaigns Animal Aid · ALF Animal liberation movement Animal Rights Militia BUAV · Great Ape Project Justice Department PETA · SPEAK Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty Viva! Issues Animal rights · Animal testing Bile bear · Factory farming Operation Backfire · Speciesism Cases Britches Cambridge University primates Pit of despair · Silver Spring monkeys Unnecessary Fuss Writers Steven Best · Stephen R.L. Clark Gary Francione · Gill Langley Tom Regan · Richard D. Ryder Peter Singer · Steven M. Wise Categories Animal experimentation Animal Liberation Front Animal rights movement Animal rights WikiProject WikiProject Animal rights

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] Quotation

• "Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it."^[4]

[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

• Alex Pacheco (activist)
• Silver Spring monkeys
• Animal Liberation Front
• Britches (monkey)
• Animal testing
• PETA

[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.
4. ^ The New Know-Nothings: The Political Foes of the Scientific Study of Human Nature by Morton Hunt, pp 313

[edit] References

• Ingrid Newkirk's website
• PETA website
• PETA timeline
• Millard, Rosie. "A human carrot in bright orange felt walks in, announcing itself as "Chris P Carrot'", New Statesman, October 6, 2003.
• Newkirk, Ingrid. Free the Animals: The Story of the Animal Liberation Front, Lantern Books, 2000, ISBN 1-930051-22-0
• Dennis Prager Show 25 Sep 2006 (hour 3)