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Ingrid Newkirk (born June 11, 1949) is a British-born animal rights activist, author, and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the world's largest animal rights organization. She co-founded PETA in 1980 with American activist Alex Pacheco, and is the author of several books about animal liberation, including Free the Animals, You Can Save the Animals, and Making Kind Choices, which has a foreword by Sir Paul McCartney. Newkirk is best known for the campaigns and stunts she organizes on behalf of PETA in order to promote animal rights and veganism. In her will, she has directed that her skin be turned into wallets, her feet into umbrella stands, and her flesh into "Newkirk Nuggets" then grilled on a barbecue. Under Newkirk’s leadership, legislation was passed to create the first spay/neuter clinic in Washington, D.C. in the late 1970s At PETA, Newkirk lead successful campaigns to stop the use of animals in crash tests, and convinced numerous companies, from Gillette to Revlon, to stop using animal tests for cosmetics.
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