Animal Times

Welcome to our latest issue of PETA's Animal Times®, the magazine that speaks up for animals. Whether you're a student, an activist, a stay-at-home parent or a busy entrepreneur, we've got tons of ideas and inspiration to help you get active for animals, including heartwarming rescue stories, investigative reports, easy animal-friendly recipes and stories about how caring people like you are making a difference for animals in their own communities.

Ingrid Newkirk

Dear Animal Times Reader,

Earlier this year, I went on the road in North America to promote my new book, Making Kind Choices (see a short excerpt on page 17). Getting lost in unfamiliar towns, standing out in the sleet waiting for a taxi, sitting on the floor waiting for delayed planes in crowded airports, sparring with antagonistic talk show hosts, missing meals, waking up before dawn, and getting little sleep, I couldnt help but think of the stress endured by animals who are carted from town to town by circuses. Compared to them, I was in paradise. No one clamped me into shackles or threatened me with a bullhook, and in the end, I got to come home to my loved ones.

Perhaps my worst personal moment was arriving at the Minneapolis airport just before midnight, sick with the flu, only to find that the inter-terminal train had broken down. I ended up dragging my luggage and laundry—you accumulate a lot of that on the road—for what seemed like a mile through the deserted terminal. Packhorses, I felt your pain for just a moment.

But the high points were many. Thanks to everyone who came out to say hello. It made my trip worthwhile to see your smiling faces and hear about your actions and your stories. In bookstores and on college campuses, I urged people of conscience to take personal responsibility to fight for animal liberation and to take every single opportunity to stand up, speak out, and make a difference.

Time slips away, and time is our most precious commodity. In Making Kind Choices, I liken lost moments of opportunity to the coin that I was given by an old magician when I was a little girl. Following his instructions, I squeezed that coin tightly in my cupped hand. Yet, when he whispered some magic words, I opened my fingers to find that it had disappeared. Please remember that animals depend on each of us to seize the moment—all moments—and educate others. Never let those opportunities pass, for you will not be able to retrieve them any more than I was able to recover that lost coin.

For all animals,

Ingrid E. Newkirk
President