PETA Leader to Have Her Hide Tanned to Make a Point

Ingrid Newkirk, founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India, has drawn up her last will and testament, directing that, after her death, parts of her body be put on display or sent to those responsible for abusing animals.

Newkirk, 53, believes human beings have the responsibility to protect other forms of life and has decided to campaign to end animal abuse after her death by using her body to draw attention to common yet needless cruelties. A few of her wishes are as follows:

1) A portion of her own skin is to be made into a leather product, such as a handbag, and displayed outside the Indian Leather Fair each year to draw attention to the suffering of cows and bullocks slaughtered for their skin.

2) A portion of her body is to be cooked in a ‘human barbeque’, to remind those who eat meat that it is flesh and that no one needs to eat it.

3) Her feet are to be cut off and turned into umbrella stands, similar to those made from elephants’ feet, which she saw when she lived in Delhi as a child, to admonish against the use of animals as mere objects for human entertainment.

Newkirk says, ‘If using my body can wake up just one person to the wanton exploitation of animals, then this will be a success. People will see that when my skin has been tanned, there will be no difference between it and the skin they buy in the form of shoes and briefcases. The difference is only that, unlike the millions of cows and buffaloes in India who are beaten and abused before they die a wretched death, I have not been oppressed’.

She continues, ‘Expect to find a kebab stand set up in front of Deonar abattoir or in the middle of Connaught Place giving away my cooked flesh. This is far less shocking than stealing the very life of a chicken or goat for nothing more than a fleeting taste sensation’.

Newkirk grew up in India, and she credits her time here to teaching her the compassion and ahimsa values she now lives by. Her campaigns to save animal lives have made headlines around the world. She has written seven books on animal protection and has spoken internationally on animal rights issues, from a cage in the Taiwan street markets to the hearing rooms of the US Congress.

‘I want my work for animals to live on when I am gone’, says Newkirk. ‘I will continue to make a stir, even after I have been in the ground a long time.’