Tricia Lebkuecher

Name: Tricia Lebkuecher
Position: Campaigner
E-Mail: [email protected]
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tricialeb
Twitter: @TriciaLeb
Instagram: @TriciaLeb
Where do you work?
I work from my home office in Nashville, Tennessee, but travel the country frequently doing fun, awesome demos!
Do you have animal companions?
I share my home with my husband and three amazing rescued cats, Tofu, Gilly, and Ruby. Our most recent addition to the family, Ruby, was a stray found by some neighborhood kids who was quite literally plopped into our house and has been here ever since.
What’s the best part of your job? The best part of my job is waking up every day knowing that I’m doing my very best and working my very hardest for animal liberation alongside so many other strong, intelligent, and hardworking people. Meeting passionate activists from around the world and connecting with my dedicated coworkers reminds me that there are so many brilliant, driven people who care about these issues and that, together, we will see a day in the not-too-distant future when animals are afforded rights as individuals to live their own lives and fulfill their own destinies—they’ll no longer be considered commodities to be exploited by human selfishness and greed.
What’s the hardest part of your job? The hardest part of my job is occasionally meeting people who insist that they simply don’t care about what happens to animals and that they’re going to continue eating them, wearing them, using them for entertainment, and otherwise harming them with their lifestyle. It hurts so much to know that some people aren’t willing to make tiny changes to spare these intelligent, feeling beings a lifetime of misery and suffering. Happily, I meet more people, tons of them, who do feel bad about making lifestyle decisions that result in animals being chopped up, skinned alive, beaten daily, or intentionally mutilated. Every time that I do a demonstration, I meet people who say that what we’re doing has led them to make changes in their lives that will help animals.
Best memory at PETA: There are so many awesome memories, so it’s hard to pick just one. But the highlight of my career so far was probably when I went to St. Paul, Minnesota, to protest Patterson Veterinary Supply for not following through on its promise to rescue 150 greyhounds living in miserable, squalid conditions at the disgusting Pet Blood Bank in Cherokee, Texas. These dogs were discarded from the excessively cruel greyhound racing industry and then confined to filthy wire cages and denied veterinary care and everything that’s natural and important to them, including exercise, companionship, and the opportunity to bond with a human family. They were farmed for their blood in order to give transfusions to people’s companion animals and were often kept outside in kennels for hours in the sweltering heat while waiting for their blood to be taken.