Fwd: 10 Questions for Ingrid Newkirk

[Guest guest]

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008

10 Questions for Ingrid Newkirk By Ingrid Newkirk

 

*1. Is there a simple, everyday way people can help animals? James Dodds,

KATONAH, N.Y.*

 

Absolutely. Give your dog or cat respect, patience, understanding and love.

And if you just change to one vegetarian day a week, that's a wonderful step

that will save animal lives. It means you have chosen something kind instead

of something cruel.

 

*2. Is PETA against the consumption of meat? Do you want us all to be

vegetarian? Jose Ortega, LIMA, PERU*

 

I think if you're against cruelty and you look at what happens to animals in

slaughterhouses and on factory farms, you have to be completely against

eating meat. And we don't need animals. It's the 21st century. It's

healthier for us, better for the environment and certainly kinder to be a

vegetarian.

 

*3. PETA recently tried to advocate for the use of human breast milk rather

than cow's milk in Ben & Jerry's ice cream. That doesn't seem very feasible.

Erika Kohl, WESTFORD, MASS.*

 

It isn't very feasible at all, but it was great fun to suggest it to Ben &

Jerry's, who also knew it was a joke. What was serious was that television

stations listened to our reasons why making anything out of cow's milk is

unkind. Calves are taken away from their mothers and used for veal. We drink

the milk meant for those little calves.

 

*4. How do you justify advocating animal rights in a world filled with

poverty and starvation? Joslyn DeGroot YPSILANTI, MICH.*

 

Perhaps one of the most important things you can do for human beings is wean

them off an animal-based diet. It hardens the arteries and runs up our

health-care costs. The last thing a poor person can afford is a heart attack

or cancer or a stroke. And that's all linked to a meat-based diet. I think

animal liberation is human liberation.

 

*5. What has been PETA's greatest victory? Lara Sanders, GREENSBURG, PA.*

 

It's probably the most intangible one, which is changing people's outlook

and putting animal rights on the map. People are afraid that if they're

doing something wrong to animals, peta will come a-callin'.

 

*6. Do some of PETA's methods go too far? Matthew Litak EVERGREEN PARK, ILL.

*

 

Chrissie Hynde said it best: When you're talking about cruelty to living

beings, the danger is in not going far enough to protest it. We may do silly

things sometimes, but we always have a serious point. We'll pretty much do

anything--as long as it's not violent.

 

*7. What milestones do you think the animal-rights movement will accomplish

in your lifetime? Joel Bartlett PORTLAND, MAINE*

 

I'm sure, before I die, we will have in vitro meat. That will mean you take

a couple of cells from animals and you grow meat in a lab. You can make a

clean meat, no suffering, no disease. We have offered a $1 million reward to

the first scientist able to come up with in vitro meat.

 

*8. Have any of your campaigns been counterproductive? Max Wilson, SEATTLE*

 

I don't think so. Some may have caused many of our members to leave us, and

they may have caused people to dislike us, but we're not here to win a

popularity contest. We're here to get people to find out the facts about how

animals suffer.

 

*9. What did you think of the Michael Vick situation? Bobbie Mullins,

NORFOLK, VA.*

 

I have spoken to Michael, and I know he's contrite. I believe when we see

him emerge from jail that he's going to have a strong message for inner-city

youth.

 

*10. Do you have any fun fighting for animal rights, or is it all

seriousness and horror? Sydney Jorgensen RIDGEFIELD, CONN.*

 

We would have all jumped off a ledge by now if we hadn't had some fun along

the way. I think people who don't know peta often miss the fact that we're

poking fun at ourselves while we're trying to get people to open their eyes.

 

 

VIDEO AT TIME.COM To watch a video interview with Ingrid Newkirk and to

to the 10 Questions podcast on iTunes, go to

http://www.time.com/time/10questions

 

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*Find this article at:*

 

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1853306,00.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

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