The push for change

Meet Ingrid Newkirk, the woman behind the world’s largest animal rights organisation.

It’s been said that before PETA, ‘animal rights’ was more a punchline that a social justice movement. Led by Ingrid Newkirk, the organisation has been a trailblazer in the animal rights movement. Its very first court case in 1981 was precedent-setting, resulting in the first arrest and conviction of an animal experimenter in the US on charges of cruelty to animals. Some of PETA’s victories since then include stopping all car crash tests on animals worldwide, convincing NASA to stop sending monkeys into space, closing down the largest circus in the world, and changing the public’s perception of fur from status symbol to perverse possession. After four decades of activism, 70-year-old Ingrid is still passionately advocating for the ethical treatment of animals.

How it all began

Ingrid grew up rescuing birds and adoring the family dog, believing herself to be an animal lover. Like most of us, she started out eating and wearing animal products without giving it too much thought. Ingrid says, “I was astounded that I had not thought, during all those years, that my favourite roast chicken was the same bird I loved to pet on my uncle’s farm. When I finally woke up to what I had been supporting, I thought I’d start a little group for other people like me.” When she says ‘people like her’, she means those who are unwittingly supporting businesses that rely on harming animals to do business. That little group she started has now grown to comprise more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide.

Courting press coverage

She hasn’t garnered this much support without ruffling a few feathers along the way. Ingrid’s unapologetic and forthright approach has drawn everything from intense criticism to death threats. A self-professed “press slut”, there is a reason for the attention-grabbing stunts and campaigns. She says, “Stunts help bring attention to the serious via what turns heads, makes people laugh, or look. Stunts definitely have their uses in our movement.” She’s not afraid to put her own body on the line, either, stripping off countless times to protest fur, leather, meat and so on. At age 60, to show the striking similarities between humans and other animals, Ingrid was photographed hanging naked on a meat hook among the bodies of dead pigs for a PETA billboard.

Answering her critics

Over the years, some feminists have taken umbrage at PETA’s ads, saying they objectify, sexualise or body-shame women. To this Ingrid says, “We are in the so-called ‘free world’, so if a woman wishes to go naked or lightly clothed for political reasons, or just because they feel like it, we don’t need other women telling us not to.” She’s always identified as a feminist herself, marching for women’s rights back in the 1960s and campaigning for equal pay and an end to sexual harassment in the workplace. She goes on to say, “Pamela Anderson has used her sexuality to advance her career and is a strong advocate against sexual exploitation and violence against women. We don’t all have to dress like nuns and choose the prescribed salad fork.”

PETA’s unique kind of activism has also attracted criticism from other animal rights activists, whether for trivialising serious issues with media stunts or for supporting shelters that euthanise animals. On this controversial point, they say ‘no-kill’ shelters are better termed ‘turn-away’ shelters because the only reason they have the luxury of not euthanising animals is that they turn away those they deem unadoptable, prolonging suffering rather than taking responsibility for it. Ingrid says. “We have our feet on the ground, but our heads in the clouds, meaning we will accept any reduction in cruelty. We are not purists, so while we are in this to win it, we are also in this to stop needless pain – any of it.”

To explain further, Ingrid points out that the state of Florida in the US is currently busy killing ‘nuisance’ iguanas. While PETA makes a strong case that iguanas are there through no fault of their own and should be left alone, the organisation is also pushing for more humane methods of killing while it continues, with the goal to reduce suffering. Similarly, many years ago they fought hard to ensure cattle on feedlots were provided water, something they were denied for three or more days as they awaited shipment to the abattoir. This attracted criticism from activists who said they did not believe the cattle should be slaughtered to begin with. Ingrid says, “We don’t either! But as long as they are being slaughtered, at least help them get a drink of water!”

Building an inclusive movement

To her critics, Ingrid says, “Concentrating on what you don’t believe in is the best strategy for sucking your time away from doing what you think is right. Instead, do whatever you can legally do to help animals.” She also has no time for people who criticise ‘cupcake vegans’, meaning those who have come to veganism only as better food options have hit the mainstream. “We are not an exclusive elite club! We should welcome anyone and everyone who helps animals – for any reason.” Ingrid does not believe there are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ reasons for going vegan. “We have a member of staff who went vegan as a birthday present for his ‘annoying’ vegan sister. He ended up feeling better, stuck with it, and then started to understand the whole caring about animals business.”

Optimism through activism

While Ingrid says she’s not a born optimist, she is hopeful that the recent rise in veganism will translate to lasting social change. She says, “We are so lucky to have our voices, our immense power as consumers, our ability not just to be vegan ourselves but to educate others and grow our movement.” On the question of how she remains inspired after seeing so much cruelty in her work, she says, “I have the advantage of being able to see how far we’ve come in the over 40 years I’ve been a full-time activist. But I worry about complacency, that people don’t do enough to push it forward. I can only be optimistic about the future if we all push for change.” Over the years, she’s also had to endure seeing the most atrocious things done to animals, which she says helps to motivate her. “That produces the determination to try my best, with my limited skills, intelligence and reach, to do whatever I can do, as long as I draw breath,” she says.

This is not entirely true, though. Ingrid plans to continue her work long after her last breath. In what is perhaps her most controversial ‘stunt’ yet, she has left instructions in her will that she hopes will see her body parts used for a few final protests. Among these are displaying her liver to oppose the production of foie gras, using her feet as umbrella stands to protest the slaughter of elephants, making a purse from the lizard-tattooed skin on her arm to raise awareness of the exotic skins industry, and – perhaps most morbid of all – the barbecuing of her flesh! She says she wants to “get people to come on over thinking something delicious is cooking, and then hearing about my message that we are all the flesh and blood under the skin”. We could be forgiven for wondering: is she mad? And perhaps there is a touch of madness in this idea, which she says came about after having a near death experience. “I lamented the eventual end of my activism, and then realised that if my body is still intact upon my death, my activism can live on – hurrah!”

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From the beginning, PETA’s campaigns have been both provocative and effective. And as the woman behind the organisation, Ingrid’s dedication to animal rights is undeniably impressive. To all animal-lovers, she offers this advice: “Never think ‘I’m just one person’ or ‘What I do doesn’t count for much’. Never, ever. You are a powerhouse. You have the luxury of being in a country where you can speak your mind, educate, cook for people, be an example, give children ideas and books, seize social media for good, badger politicians, join demos, stand up for what’s right.”

INGRID AT HOME

Favourite food: Beans and rice with salsa and tortillas
Reading: Times Literary Supplement and Fashion Animals by Joshua Katcher
Listening to: Nick Cave’s ‘Breathless’ – the PETA version! And opera as long as it’s not too sad
Watching: Hideous videos our investigators keep sending me
Relaxing: Cryptic crossword puzzles in bed with cup of tea
Never leave home without: iPhone
Favourite place: Nilgiri Hills, India
Fond memory: Writing for Time magazine while in jail for interrupting a pigeon shoot
Inspiration: Sojourner Truth, the black liberationist who ignored white male bullies while championing emancipation
Best tip for a life well-lived: Never be silent!