“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” – Mahatma Gandhi
Ingrid Newkirk is a well-known animal rights activist and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). She is also a well known author with several books published under her name. “Free the Animals” and “Making Kind Choices” are some of her most famous books. She is a co-founder of the world’s largest animal rights organization (PETA). She has worked for the animal protection movement since 1972.
Newkirk was born on June 11, 1949 in Great Britain and lived with his family in the Orkney Islands. He moved with his family to India when he was only seven years old. His father was a shipping engineer in New Delhi and his mother was a volunteer for Mother Teresa in a leper colony. Her mother had a great impact on her and absorbed the sense of care and protection for everyone, regardless of her color, race or any other factor in her. Newkirk had not seriously thought about animal rights until he was 21 years old. She wasn’t even a vegetarian then. The change occurred in 1970 when she was living with her husband in Maryland and she was also studying to be a stockbroker. A neighbor had abandoned some kittens and when Ingrid saw them she decided to take them to an animal shelter. This changed her life and she dedicated herself to working for the benefit of animals. She took her first job cleaning kennels and investigating criminal cases. There were also several other incidents that changed her whole perspective towards animals and made her realize that there had to be an organization that worked for the welfare of animals. This was the founding step of PETA and later in 1980 she co-founded the organization.
She was instrumental in the formation of legislation to create the first spay and neuter clinic in Washington, DC. She also assisted in the first arrest, in US history. The first anti-cruelty law in Taiwan. She also started many more campaigns that worked against animal cruelty and abuse. This also included ending General Motors car crash tests on animals.
Since its inception, PETA has been instrumental in exposing the horrific abuse of animals in laboratories and ultimately getting such organizations and individuals in trouble. Many of them have gone out of business and the rest have reformed their test and work methodologies so they are no longer on the receiving end. Ingrid Newkirk is an abolitionist and remains committed to the idea that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment.