Ingrid Newkirk: Animal

Ingrid Newkirk is British-American activist. Explore interesting quotes on animal.

Ingrid Newkirk: 96 quotes2 likes

“When I hear of anyone walking into a lab and walking out with animals, my heart sings.”

"To Market, To Market," Los Angeles Times Magazine, 1992 March 22.
On animal research and activism against it

“It [animal research] is immoral even if it's essential.”

Washington Post 1989 May 30.
On animal research and activism against it

“I think that’s just a throwaway line, because most people don’t really care if they are being true to their original nature. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be wearing clothes and driving cars, but out picking berries and eating bark. If you study anthropology — which most people don’t — and you start to learn about our intestinal structure, our teeth, our digestive system, our mouth structure, you begin to realize that maybe we aren’t meant to be eating animals after all.”

Ingrid Newkirk

Montreal Mirror http://web.archive.org/20020703023107/www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2002/032102/news3.html In response to people who say it is natural to eat meat

“When we build an attractive home, we raze land on which animals have already built their homes. They have nowhere to go.”

Ingrid Newkirk

Reason, June, 1990
1990s

“I will be the last person to condemn ALF [the Animal Liberation Front].”

Ingrid Newkirk

The New York Daily News, 1997 December 7.
1990s

“Well, it’s not like this is anything we are trying to hide. About three times in our 21-year history we have thought it was a good idea — and still do — to defend some very good activists who have done some decent things for animals and who have happened to get into trouble. One of those people is Rodney Coronado, who is a very committed Native American animal rights activist and a decent person. He did something [firebombed a research facility at Michigan State University] that put him in prison for three-and-a-half years and I think that if we hadn’t provided him with a good legal defence he wouldn’t be back out doing productive things in the community again — like the good person that he is. We are very happy to have done that.”

Ingrid Newkirk

Montreal Mirror http://web.archive.org/20020703023107/www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2002/032102/news3.html. On animal research and activism against it

“If that hideousness came here, it wouldn't be any more hideous for the animals — they are all bound for a ghastly death anyway. But it would wake up consumers. … I openly hope it [hoof and mouth disease] comes here. It will bring economic harm only for those who profit from giving people heart attacks and giving animals a concentration camp-like existence. It would be good for animals, good for human health and good for the environment.”

Ingrid Newkirk

ABC News interview, 2001 April 2

“Would I rather the research lab that tests animals is reduced to a bunch of cinders? Yes.”

Ingrid Newkirk

New York Daily News, 1997 December 7.
On animal research and activism against it

“We do not advocate "right to life" for animals.”

Ingrid Newkirk

On a postcard to Nathan Winograd, a neuter/release and no-kill shelter advocate http://www.nokillnow.com/PETAIngridNewkirkResign.htm. On pets

“We have to be aggressive when those we stick up for have no voice. I don't consider it radical to say cruelty is wrong and that animals should be respected. I consider it radical to eat corpses, put electrodes in animals' heads, make elephants live in chains in the circus, and poison animals we consider a nuisance.”

Ingrid Newkirk

Veg Family, March, 2003 http://www.vegfamily.com/interviews/ingrid-newkirk.htm

“You don't have to own squirrels and starlings to get enjoyment from them … One day, we would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals. [Dogs] would pursue their natural lives in the wild … they would have full lives, not wasting at home for someone to come home in the evening and pet them and then sit there and watch TV.”

Ingrid Newkirk

The Chicago Daily Herald, 1990 March 1.
1990s

“Animal liberationists do not separate out the human animal, so there is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They are all mammals”

Ingrid Newkirk

Vogue 1989 September 1
Attributed variants:
"When it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger, and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy"
"A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They’re all animals." — Washingtonian magazine, 1986 August 1

“There is no hidden agenda. If anybody wonders about — what’s this with all these reforms — you can hear us clearly. Our goal is total animal liberation.”

Ingrid Newkirk

“Animal Rights 2002” convention, 2002 June 30

“I don’t use the word 'pet.' I think it’s speciesist language. I prefer 'companion animal.' For one thing, we would no longer allow breeding. People could not create different breeds. There would be no pet shops. If people had companion animals in their homes, those animals would have to be refugees from the animal shelters and the streets. You would have a protective relationship with them just as you would with an orphaned child. But as the surplus of cats and dogs (artificially engineered by centuries of forced breeding) declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship — enjoyment at a distance.”

Ingrid Newkirk

The Harper's Forum Book, Jack Hitt, ed., 1989, p. 223.
1980s

“Society is celebrity-based and we are determined to use [celebrities'] voices to make sure no one forgets there are issues over the use of animals. Celebrities can be great for our cause and can really make people sit up and think for the first time about animal abuse.”

Ingrid Newkirk

Ingrid Newkirk — taking on the critics http://www.animal-lib.org.au/more_interviews/ingrid/, Animal Liberation NSW. 2003

“I am just trying to make the best possible case for the animals. That is clearly what I have been put on earth to do. Even after I am gone I will try to continue.”

Ingrid Newkirk

"Mother Nature", The Observer 2003 June 22 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,982402,00.html 2003

“Every animal has his or her story, his or her thoughts, daydreams, and interests. All feel joy and love, pain and fear, as we now know beyond any shadow of a doubt. All deserve that the human animal afford them the respect of being cared for with great consideration for those interests or left in peace.”

Ingrid Newkirk

"Every Week There is More Reason to Feel Empathy for Animals" https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ingrid-newkirk/every-week-there-is-more_b_216409.html, Huffington Post, 17 July 2009. 2009

“Even if animal experiments did result in a cure for AIDS, of which there is no chance, I’d be against it on moral grounds.”

Ingrid Newkirk

McGraw, Michael, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "PETA and AIDS research" http://www.cnsnews.com/letterstotheeditor/letters_archive/2006/letters20060515.asp, Letters to the Editor, CNSNews.com, May 15, 2006. On animal research and activism against it

“If it’s anything that’s going to result in suffering to animals or people, then I don’t think [the end] justifies the means. … Yeah; but then again if you could hurt ten people to save 100 people and there was no option, what would you do? I can’t really address that.”

Ingrid Newkirk

Satya, January, 2001 http://www.satyamag.com/jan01/newkirk.html. On animal research and activism against it

“In today’s world of tabloid press and with so much competing for people’s attention, it’s a miracle to get their attention at all. And of course having to compete with the advertising budget of even one of our adversaries is impossible. If the whole movement pooled its resources and went after simply one thing, like the veal industry, we wouldn’t make a dent, advertising dollar for advertising dollar. To me the greatest success is in catching the attention of the public and reminding them that there’s an animal involved, and that that animal is believed not to have been treated properly by a segment of the population.”

Ingrid Newkirk

Satya, November, 2000 http://www.satyamag.com/novdec00/newkirk.html. 2000