Goodness Steve
When did you first realize that you had a passion for contributing to the wellness of Animals?
Ingrid Newkirk
While spending most of my childhood in India, I witnessed the suffering of impoverished human beings and animals every day. My mother made our house into a home for refugees, regardless of species. The turning point for me was when I witnessed some local people laughing at a dog who had had his mouth stuffed with mud and had been hobbled in the sun. The dog ended up dying in my arms.
Goodness Steve
What was your first major step in becoming an angel for the wellness of animals?
Ingrid Newkirk
Becoming aware of how the dog I grew up with, Seanie, felt; his happiness, his fear, his pain when ill. He was like a brother to me and we read each other’s faces, had adventures together, and I realized, through him, that all of us, no matter whether dog or human, experience the same emotions and seek the same comforts and the avoidance of the same unpleasantness.
Goodness Steve
How did PETA start?
Ingrid Newkirk
In 1980 PETA was started in the basement of my apartment in Maryland. Public attention was first received in 1981 when the co-founder and I conducted an undercover investigation in what became known as the Silver Spring monkeys case. We gathered evidence inside this primate research laboratory in Sliver Spring, Maryland, showing that the monkeys were living in filth, in tiny cage s with wires protruding from them; often going without food, dying for lack for medical attention, And tortured in a shock box. That evidence we provided it to the police, and a warrant was served on the laboratory at the Institute of Behavioral Research. When the primates were removed from the laboratory they were seen on national news, and many viewers nationwide contacted PETA to find out what they can do to help.
Goodness Steve
May I ask about some important steps that others who are passionate about animal rights can take to get started on their journey toward helping our furry friends?
Ingrid Newkirk
I have written a book called Making Kind Choices that helps people see how easy it is to incorporate compassion into every decision, from what to have for breakfast to what to do when you retire at night, or from work, and everything in between. The first thing is to become more aware of the abuse that occurs, and make informed decisions about the products we buy (are they tested in rabbits’ eyes?) and foods we choose (do they subsidize the slaughterhouse and factory farming?), what we wear (pelts? Leather? Wool?) which health charities we support (do they test on animals?) and what entertainments we go to (the animals circus?). We can easily arm ourselves with a great vegan cookbook and switch out the meats, milk, and eggs for vegan foods, soy and rice milks, and so on; we can easily choose from over 600 brands of makeup and cleaning products that do not test on animals; and so much more. Speaking up when we witness or hear about animal abuse makes a big difference, too.
Goodness Steve
PETA is the largest animal right organization in the world and has benefited the wellness of animals in many ways. Please name a few of your favorite PETA achievements?
Ingrid Newkirk
Obtaining the first search warrant and conviction for cruelty to animals against an experimenter; the first felony convictions of pig farmers; stopping hundreds of companies from pouring chemicals down animals’ throats to test them; helping to pass a cruelty to animals law in Taiwan; and stopping every car company in the world from performing crash tests on animals. There are countless more, but those are just a few.
Goodness Steve
I heard about a fascinating contest that PETA designed to create a meat alternative using animal stem cells to harvest cruelty free meat. May I ask if there is any progress in this innovative technology? Yes, this has created a buzz in the in scientific world of in vitro meat development.
Ingrid Newkirk
Scientists are working now on perfecting the texture of in vitro meat, which is grown from just a few cells. It will be possible within the next decade, we believe, to eat meat that involved no cruelty, no factory farming, no slaughter, and contains no salmonella or E. Coli.
Goodness Steve
When your time here on this planet is over… what would you like people to remember about you?
Ingrid Newkirk
That I don’t count, but that their activism does, that all that matters is that they do their level best to help others who have less or nothing.
Goodness Steve
May I ask what your primary message of Wellness for the world is?
Ingrid Newkirk
He who dies with the most toys, loses, but he who dies having done all that is possible to improve the lot of others, that’s the ticket. Animals can help us open our eyes, hearts and minds to the awesome variety of life forms who are like us in all important ways, and that realization can let us live as the kind of people we can be proud to be, free from prejudice, full of understanding, empathy and willing to reach out and help those in need.
For more information on People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals visit: www.peta.org
One Can Make a Difference: How Simple Actions Can Change the World, is an enlightening roadmap for anyone who seeks a just society and strives to make a positive impact on our world.
www.peta.org/feat/makeadifference
Author: Bliss
Dedicated to making a positive difference for people, animals, and this beautiful planet!
