Ingrid Newkirk Quotes & Sayings

It is dangerous to engage in even the most innocuous-seeming discourse with the FBI/ Homeland Security/ a local detective. — Ingrid Newkirk

Pet ownership is slavery. Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or be entertained by. — Ingrid Newkirk

I wish we all would get up and go into the labs and take the animals out or burn them down. — Ingrid Newkirk

I'd go to work early, before anyone got there, and I would just kill the animals myself ... I must have killed a thousand of them, sometimes dozens every day. — Ingrid Newkirk

Going meat-free can make a huge difference. Studies show that vegetarians are, on average, 10 to 20 pounds lighter than meat-eaters and that a vegetarian diet reduces our risk of heart disease by 40 percent and adds seven or more years to our lifespan. — Ingrid Newkirk

When I hear of anyone walking into a lab and walking out with animals, my heart sings. — Ingrid Newkirk

One hates to be absolute, but in my view, there is no such thing as humane meat. — Ingrid Newkirk

We are opposed to all cruelty, so as advocates of non-violence, opponents of oppression, people who abhor the cruelty inherent in slaughtering we say the only ethical way to consume flesh is to pick up the carcass of an animal who has died naturally or been killed accidentally, say by being hit by a car, and eat that. — Ingrid Newkirk

Animal hoarding was a dirty secret until hoarders appeared on our TV screens and showed how they are compelled to collect so many dogs, cats or parrots that the animals end up in cages only inches bigger than their own bodies. For life. — Ingrid Newkirk

I don't have the luxury of having a dog myself because I travel too much, but I love walking and cuddling somebody else's dog. — Ingrid Newkirk

U.K. citizens fleeing the Middle East and Japan have been allowed to take their animal companions with them on evacuation flights. The U.S. is not so civilized, and that's a blot on our national copybook. — Ingrid Newkirk

Fortified plant-based milks are delicious and contain all the calcium, protein, and vitamin D of dairy products but with none of the cholesterol, lactose, hormones, or cruelty found in cow's milk. — Ingrid Newkirk

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're all mammals. — Ingrid Newkirk

Animals aren't any better equipped to survive an emergency than humans are. Few people missed the fact that after Hurricane Katrina, people died because buses and emergency shelters wouldn't allow their animals. — Ingrid Newkirk

There's nothing humane about the flesh of animals who have had one or two or even three improvements made in their singularly rotten lives on today's factory farms. — Ingrid Newkirk

I will be the last person to condemn ALF [the Animal Liberation Front]. — Ingrid Newkirk

We're looking for good lawsuits that will establish the interests of animals as a legitimate area of concern in law. — Ingrid Newkirk

If we are ever to halt climate change and conserve land, water and other resources, not to mention reduce animal suffering, we must celebrate Earth Day every day - at every meal. — Ingrid Newkirk

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

By adopting a wonderful mutt, you'll save a life and help reduce animal homelessness while also boosting your chances of a more robust new furry friend, as mixed-breed dogs have demonstrated better health and longer life spans than their purebred cousins. — Ingrid Newkirk

Even if animal tests produced a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it, — Ingrid Newkirk

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. — Ingrid Newkirk

Cheap meat is the problem. The answer is to replace meat recipes with vegan meals. — Ingrid Newkirk

If a girl gets sexual pleasure from riding a horse, does the horse suffer? If not, who cares? If you French kiss your dog and he or she thinks it's great, is it wrong? We believe all exploitation and abuse is wrong. If it isn't exploitation and abuse, it may not be wrong. — Ingrid Newkirk

The extinction of Homo Sapiens would mean survival for millions, if not billions, of Earth-dwelling species. Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on Earth - social and environmental. — Ingrid Newkirk

Perhaps measuring animal intelligence by comparing it to human intelligence isn't the best litmus test. — Ingrid Newkirk

[I believe] that animals have a worth in and of themselves, and that they are not inferior to human beings but rather just different from us, and that they really don't exist for us nor do they belong to us ... it should not be a question of how they should be treated within the context of their usefulness, or perceived usefulness, to us, but rather whether we have a right to use them at all. — Ingrid Newkirk

Perhaps one of the most important things you can do for human beings is wean them off an animal-based diet. It hardens the arteries and runs up our health-care costs. The last thing a poor person can afford is a heart attack or cancer or a stroke. And that's all linked to a meat-based diet. I think animal liberation is human liberation. — Ingrid Newkirk

It's time to face facts: Most people stop being environmentalists when they sit down to eat. — Ingrid Newkirk

The smallest form of life, even an ant or a clam, is equal to a human being — Ingrid Newkirk

It's time for the State Department to permanently change its official policy to allow all members of U.S. citizens' families - no matter what size they are or how many legs they have - to evacuate together when disaster strikes. — Ingrid Newkirk

Would I rather the research lab that tests animals is reduced to a bunch of cinders? Yes. — Ingrid Newkirk

We would like an end to pet shops and the breeding of animals. — Ingrid Newkirk

In order to be kind, one must do. There is no point in thinking good thoughts and not acting on them. There is no currency in wishing things were better but not rolling up one's sleeves and helping to change them. — Ingrid Newkirk

The bottom line is that people dont have the right to manipulate or to breed dogs and cats ... If people want toys, they should buy inanimate objects. If they want companionship, they should seek it with their own kind, — Ingrid Newkirk

A lot of people have culturally induced ethical blindness, but they can be cured! — Ingrid Newkirk

We are not in the home finding business, although it is certainly true that we do find homes from time to time for the kind of animals people are looking for. Our service is to provide a peaceful and painless death to animals who no one wants. — Ingrid Newkirk

In the end, I think it would be lovely if we stopped this whole notion of pets altogether, — Ingrid Newkirk

All tyranny, bigotry, aggression, and cruelty are wrong, and whenever we see it, we must never be silent. — Ingrid Newkirk

Humans have grown like a cancer. We're the biggest blight on the face of the earth. — Ingrid Newkirk

Pigeons are gentle and smart and have complex social relationships. Their hearing and vision are both excellent. — Ingrid Newkirk

If Vice President Al Gore advocated killing rabbits to see if women are pregnant and called it a step forward for science, we'd all think he'd gone 'round the bend. We don't need to do that sort of thing anymore, we'd say. We have better, kinder ways. — Ingrid Newkirk

Give your dog or cat respect, patience, understanding and love. And if you just change to one vegetarian day a week, that's a wonderful step that will save animal lives. It means you have chosen something kind instead of something cruel. — Ingrid Newkirk

Even painless research is fascism, supremacism, because the act of confinement is traumatizing in itself. — Ingrid Newkirk

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

Medical research is "immoral even it it's essential." — Ingrid Newkirk

Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation. — Ingrid Newkirk

Our nonviolent tactics are not as effective. We ask nicely for years and get nothing. Someone makes a threat, and it works. — Ingrid Newkirk

I am not a morose person, but I would rather not be here. I don't have any reverence for life, only for the entities themselves. I would rather see a blank space where I am. This will sound like fruitcake stuff again but at least I wouldn't be harming anything. — Ingrid Newkirk

Whether or not we are religious, respecting others should be seen as just as important as looking out for ourselves, yet it requires discipline to change our bad habits that cause pain to animals. — Ingrid Newkirk

You dont 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

Consumers of meat, eggs and dairy products might well ask what they are supporting. Do farmers care about anyone but themselves? Can't anyone see the cow for the cheese? — Ingrid Newkirk

I know it's illegal [trespassing], but I don't think it's wrong. — Ingrid Newkirk

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

Businesses are terrified. They have no idea what I'm going to do next. — Ingrid Newkirk

Why go for a costly, sickly, mass-produced purebred when shelters are full of one-of-a-kind mixed breeds who are literally dying for a home? — Ingrid Newkirk

Most Americans, like most Japanese, view their dogs, cats, and other animal companions as family members, and rightly so. — Ingrid Newkirk

To me, it is one world, and the non-human animals bear the brunt of oppression and suffering. — Ingrid Newkirk

It's the 21st century. It's healthier for us, better for the environment and certainly kinder to be a vegetarian. — Ingrid Newkirk

Winners don't eat wieners. — Ingrid Newkirk

I find that as I get older I seem to become more of a Luddite ... And hearing animal experimenters describe me as a Luddite
which used to think I was not. And now I think Ned Lud had the right idea and we should have stopped all the machinery way back when, and learned to live simple lives. — Ingrid Newkirk

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

It is only human supremacy, which is as unacceptable as racism and sexism, that makes us afraid of being more inclusive. — Ingrid Newkirk

Elephants have the largest brains of any mammal on the face of the Earth. They are creative, altruistic and kind. — Ingrid Newkirk

Although we have, in theory, abolished human slavery, recognized women's rights, and stopped child labor, we continue to enslave other species who, if we simply pay attention, show quite clearly that they experience parental love, pain, and the desire for freedom, just as we do. — Ingrid Newkirk

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

Since we can't count on the meat, egg, and dairy industries to protect animals from the most egregious forms of cruelty, what can we, as consumers, do? Opting out of paying someone to allow animals to die in a barn fire or at the slaughterhouse seems pretty reasonable. — Ingrid Newkirk

If you like to bake with eggs, you can substitute Ener-G egg replacer, bananas, tofu, or many other ingredients. You get the hang of it quickly enough. — Ingrid Newkirk

If my father had a heart attack, it would give me no solace at all to know his treatment was first tried on a dog. — Ingrid Newkirk

Eating meat is primitive, barbaric, and arrogant. — Ingrid Newkirk

Seriously, I think everybody needs to be more disciplined; nobody needs any meat. But from a perspective of how many animals suffer, it's probably better to kill and eat one whale than it is to eat fish, chickens, cows, lambs and eggs. — Ingrid Newkirk

Cows are gentle, interesting animals. — Ingrid Newkirk

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

All of us in society are supposed to believe that cruelty to animals is wrong and that it is a good thing to prevent needless suffering. So if that is true, how can meat be acceptable under any but the most extraordinary circumstances, such as perhaps roasting the bird who died flying into a window? — Ingrid Newkirk

Probably everything we do is a publicity stunt ... we are not here to gather members, to please, to placate, to make friends. We're here to hold the radical line. — Ingrid Newkirk

Everything we do is based at adults. — Ingrid Newkirk

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

PETA's campaign should be included in school curricula. If we can open children's hearts and minds to animals' needs, teach them to treat a dog or a chicken as if they feel fear and love and pain - as they do - then they will grow up to understand that we are all worthy of respect. — Ingrid Newkirk

We all have prejudices to dispel: the need to get away from thinking that 'I' am important and special and 'you' are not, and the frightened mindset that tells us that certain 'others' are of no consequence. — Ingrid Newkirk

More power to [Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty] if they can get someone's attention. — Ingrid Newkirk

Recognize meat for what it really is: the antibiotic- and pesticide-laden corpse of a tortured animal. — Ingrid Newkirk

Pigeon racing is a lousy, greedy, and often unlawful activity. One thing that it is not is kind to birds. — Ingrid Newkirk

Euthanasia is the kindest gift to a dog or cat unwanted and unloved. — Ingrid Newkirk

Real nutrition comes from soybeans, almonds, rice, and other healthy vegetable sources, not from a cow's udder. — Ingrid Newkirk

Pigeons are among the most maligned urban wildlife despite the fact that human beings brought them to our shores and turned them loose in our cities - not something that they chose. — Ingrid Newkirk

I plan to send my liver somewhere in France, to protest foie gras (liver pate) ... I plan to have handbags made from my skin ... and an umbrella stand made from my seat. — Ingrid Newkirk

We do not advocate right to life for animals. — Ingrid Newkirk

Six million Jews died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler chickens will die this year in slaughter houses. — Ingrid Newkirk

A burning building doesnt help melt peoples hearts, but times change and tactics, Im sure, have to change with them. If you choose to carry out ALF-style actions, I ask you to please not say more than you need to, to think carefully who you trust, to learn all you can about how to behave if arrested, and so to try to live to fight another day. — Ingrid Newkirk

Today, I marvel at the vegan foods in the supermarket, at the cruelty-free clothing choices in stores, and at the fantastic alternatives to dissection in schools, the modern ways to test medicines without killing rabbits and beagles, the many forms of entertainment involving purely human performers. — Ingrid Newkirk

I hope SeaWorld is exploring how, like Ringling, it can get out of the wild animal business. — Ingrid Newkirk

Bulls can do nothing to demand justice. They can only defend themselves as best they can in a fight with a pre-determined ending and die never knowing why they were forced to endure such a painful and prolonged death. It's up to us, as a civilized society, to call for an end to the Running of the Bulls and bullfighting. — Ingrid Newkirk

If that hideousness came here [to the U.S.], 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 that it 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

We are complete press sluts. — Ingrid Newkirk

That's what the Nazis did, isn't it? Treated those "others" they thought subhuman by making them lab subjects and so on. Even the Nazis didn't eat the objects of their derision. — Ingrid Newkirk

It's interesting that one of the definitions of the word 'human' is 'sympathetic.' More and more people are beginning to show that they understand why that is important. — Ingrid Newkirk

I think if you're against cruelty and you look at what happens to animals in slaughterhouses and on factory farms, you have to be completely against eating meat. — Ingrid Newkirk

Being asked to support humane meat means being asked to support the suffering of animals in transport, to approve of treatment that causes them palpable fear, their bodies shaking and their eyes wide as saucers, as they are slung by their legs into crates that are slammed onto the back of a truck. — Ingrid Newkirk

Perhaps the mere idea of receiving a nasty missive will allow animal researchers to empathize with their victims for the first time in their lousy careers. I find it small wonder that the laboratories aren't all burning to the ground. If I had more guts, I'd light a match. — Ingrid Newkirk

A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. — Ingrid Newkirk