The director of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the country's largest animal rights organization, offers practical strategies that will help protect the earth's animals. From eating less meat and dairy products to avoiding fur, leather and wool, to buying "cruelty free" products not tested on animals, here are 101 suggestions for ways everyone can make a difference.
Ingrid E. Newkirk, 56, author of the book Making Kind Choices (St. Martin's, January 2005), is founder and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the largest animal rights organization in the world.
Her campaigns to promote cruelty-free living have made the front pages of The Washington Post and other national newspapers. She was named a top business people of the year in Forbes magazine, and has been profiled in The New Yorker and twice in People Magazine. She has appeared on The Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King, Politically Incorrect, Crossfire, Nightline, 60 Minutes and 20/20 among others and enjoys a lively debate and the opportunity to show how easy it is to make animal-friendly choices.
Newkirk has spoken internationally on animal protection issues, from the steps of the Canadian Parliament to the streets of New Delhi, India, where she spent her childhood. She is the author of numerous opinion pieces and articles on the social implications of our treatment of animals and helped to pass the first anti-cruelty law in Taiwan. She is currently campaigning to end the live flaying of lambs for Australian Merino wool.
Ms. Newkirk served as a deputy sheriff; as a Maryland state law enforcement officer for 32 years; she has been director of cruelty investigations for the second oldest humane society in the U.S.; and serves in an advisory capacity on numerous animal protection boards. In 1980, she was named Washingtonian of the Year, and has since received many other accolades and awards, including a 1995 Courage of Conscience Award, a 2001 Animal Protection Hall of Fame Award, 2002 Living Legacy Award and 2004 Activist of the Year Awards.
Ingrid Newkirk achieved the passage of legislation to create a spay/neuter clinic in Washington, D.C., coordinated the first arrest in U.S. history of a scientist on cruelty to animals charges and helped pass into law the first anti-cruelty law in Taiwan. She spearheaded the closure of Department of Defense underground 'wound laboratory,' and has initiated many other campaigns against animal abuse, including ending General Motors' crash tests on animals.
She is the author of several other books, including 'You Can Save the Animals!', 'PETA's Celebrity Cookbook' and '250 Ways to Make Your Cat Adore You.'
