'What’s done to animals is so incredibly cruel, all I did was invade Anna Wintour’s office'

Ingrid Newkirk is an activist, author, co-founder and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the largest animal rights organisation in the world. Since Newark co-founded PETA with Alex Pacheco in 1980, the organisation has used headline-grabbing methods and shocking advertising tactics to campaign on animal rights issues including factory farming, cosmetic and medical testing and keeping animals in captivity. Newkirk’s books include One Can Make a Difference, Making Kind Choices and Free the Animals. 

For her Letter to My Younger Self, Newkirk looks back on her childhood in India, early activism and famous friendships.

At 16, I was between India and the UK. I was getting out of boarding school in the Himalayas and looking forward to coming to the UK. When I arrived in the UK, that’s where I saw boys for the first time. That changed my whole perspective. 

I thought of the UK as this magical place. I had grown up in India, where my mother rescued dogs from the street or bullocks that were pulling carts. I’ve always adored animals and used to say, “When I grow up, I’m going to come back and work for animals here in India.” But when I got to the UK, which to me was this perfect land where no cruelty exists, I forgot all about that. I was just so mesmerised by the 1960s and everything that was happening. 

I was into The Rolling Stones (don’t tell Paul!). And I loved John Lennon (don’t tell Paul!). We went to where John was living at Kenwood and to the studios at Twickenham where they were filming – just hoping for a glimpse of a Beatle. One of my friends got her foot run over by one of the cars that had a Beatle in. But we didn’t know which one. 

It was wonderful time to be a teenager. The films were great, Soho was alive, Twiggy was big news, there were micro mini-skirts – my grandmother would say, “You’re going to get a cold where you don’t want one, young lady!” I had a job at ICI and would commute into London in the morning. But I never really thought about the future. I’m ashamed to say I only thought about having a good time. 

Growing up in India was a big influence. I had Jain friends – and the orthodox ones sweep the street to make sure there are no insects. They don’t eat after nightfall in case the fire they cook on would attract insects that would die. They are just so respectful of all life. I absorbed that later in life, but I wish I’d grown up with that ethic and understanding of the interconnectedness of all life. I had so many vegetarian friends there. But my mother was busy buying beef on the black market. She ordered a turkey for Christmas and we actually got a peacock. But we still ate this bird. I just didn’t put two and two together. I have many regrets of wasted time, wasted energy, obliviousness. But later in life, the penny dropped.  

I grew up caring about animals. I even had a duck I rescued. I could look into an animal’s eyes and feel that we understand each other. They’re not things to me, they’re sentient beings who have a hard lot in life. 

It didn’t register until later, but my mother was a huge influence on me. She was kind and giving. I helped her pack pills for lepers, stuff toys for Mother Teresa’s orphans and collect animals off the street. She never closed our home to anybody. She used to say, “It doesn’t matter who suffers, it matters that they suffer – and the question is, what can we do about it?”. 

I had a few political awakenings. At 19, I was a cruelty law enforcement officer in Maryland, USA, and went to a farm where the people had moved away. All the animals had starved to death except a dog on a chain and a tiny pig. I took this piglet to the water pump and he drank and drank, making little grunting sounds. You couldn’t misinterpret them. It was desperation and relief. My job was to prosecute these people for cruelty. Driving home in my van I wondered what was for dinner and thought: ‘Oh, good, I defrosted some pork chops.’ Bam! It hit me for the first time. I was about to charge someone with criminal cruelty to animals, yet everyone knows how ghastly abattoirs are. That’s when I stopped eating animals. 

Read more:

• Humanity has lost its animal instincts. And it’s been a disaster for the world
• Why it’s time for Conservative animal rights advocates to step up and be counted
• Paul McCartney: John and I had a premonition of success

One of the first big things we did with PETA was at President Reagan’s inauguration. We were a small group, leafleting on street corners, writing letters to editors. We got a red, white and blue, patriotic-looking banner with lyrics from Guys and Dolls: “Take back your mink… what made you think I’m one of those girls?” There wasn’t much security. Now you’d be shot. But we held it up as he was going by with Nancy in his limousine and the announcer started to read it aloud on national television. Then she realised what it said. But the world was watching. Everybody saw it. And that was when the fur wars began. That night, we saw people going to the poshest gala in Washington, leaving fur coats in limos because we were protesting outside. 

My knees were knocking the first time I did a big protest. During Fur Week in New York, I walked in with the orchestra, dressed in a black suit. They must have wondered who I was, but were too polite to say anything. Then, as the models came down the catwalk, I took the microphone. I was very afraid. But afraid of what? No one’s going to hang me upside down on a meat hook. I said, “Hold the music, I have an announcement,” then described how animals die in steel traps and the pain they experience. I went on and on. No one had done it before, so I got a free run. I reached a lot of rich people, so that was a big success. 

I don’t think occupying Anna Wintour’s office at Vogue took courage. What’s done to animals is so incredibly cruel, all I did was jump on a runway or invade Anna Wintour’s office. She hid in the back room and locked the door. I said, “We’re nonviolent, we’re not going to hurt you,” but she wouldn’t come out. So I got to answer the phones. I’d say, “Good morning, Vogue magazine. I’m sorry we’ve closed for cruelty to animals today,” and hang up, which was great fun.  

It would be nice if all you had to do was give people the facts and they would change. But anyone working for a social cause knows that doesn’t work. We need people to hear about these issues – so in today’s media, and always, really, it’s sex, violence or gimmickry. We chose gimmickry. But we also chose sex. Eventually every celebrity in the world wanted to be a part of ‘I’d rather go naked than wear fur’. We won that argument. 

I’d tell my younger self there are more important things than having a good time. Look around you, think how you can use your one precious life to do as much good as possible. Try to leave your mark. Everybody can do good every day. Things we think of as small kindnesses – you never know the impact, because you may not see the results of the seed you planted.  

Linda McCartney was the animals’ angel. I remember her and Paul sending their Gillette products back when we were fighting them over cosmetics tests. They asked for a refund, which the press thought was hilarious. I met Linda first. We sat backstage at a concert in Washington DC and every person she met, whether it was the electrician or a famous star, she asked if they were veggie. She was so direct. And if they gave a wishy-washy answer, she’d ask if they’d thought what animals go through at the slaughterhouse. From that moment on, they were like family to me. I love them all. Stella is a wonderful designer – no leather, no fur, no feathers.

My teenage self would be gobsmacked she became friends with Paul McCartney. I never thought I’d be sitting with him while he played a new song he’d written for his little girl. No one had heard it before and he was asking what I thought. He is the loveliest man and the whole McCartney family has been very good to PETA. Paul just signed an appeal in India to save an elephant who is chained up in a temple. So I adore him. Paul even sang at PETA’s 35th anniversary party and narrated a video of ours called Glass Walls, where we show factory farm footage of pigs being cut up and he uses a saying of his and Linda’s: “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, no one would eat meat.” It rocked the world, that video.

I still don’t understand how people can see the horror of what we do to animals for a sandwich or a shoe and not feel they have a moral responsibility to act. I am happy I’ve influenced a lot of people, but wish I could do more. I just wish people would stop eating and wearing animals. We just need more people to say, “We’re not going to pay people to harm animals and ruin the environment any more. Today’s the day I’m going vegan.”

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

Change a vendor’s life.

Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week – and always take the magazine. It’s how vendors earn with dignity and move forward.

You can also support online:
Subscribe to the magazine or support our work with a monthly gift. Your support helps vendors earn, learn and thrive while strengthening our frontline services.

Thank you for standing with Big Issue vendors.