PETA Founder Bequeaths an Eyeball to the Home Office in New Will
PETA Founder Bequeaths an Eyeball to the Home Office in New Will
London – To prolong her animal protection activism long after her death, in her last will and testament, updated this week, the founder of PETA has bequeathed an eyeball to the Home Office, a piece of her neck to King Charles, and some of her bare skin to the Ministry of Defence. Other parts of her body will also be sent off in different directions when the moment arrives.
Ingrid Newkirk’s original will was drafted 20 years ago after a plane she was travelling on encountered wind shear and was forced to make an emergency landing. But because PETA entities worldwide have since won so many victories for animals, she has now rewritten it. Newkirk had left her index finger to Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the world’s longest running and largest circus, to serve as the “Greatest Accusation on Earth”, but it will now get a thumbs-up for leaving animal acts behind.
In papers filed with her attorney-executor, Newkirk’s updated will includes the following bequests (and the full list is available here):
- One of her eyeballs to the Home Office so it knows that PETA will be constantly watching until the department stops green-lighting crude experiments on animals
- Part of her neck to King Charles III if he has failed to cut ties with pigeon racing, since the necks of “losing” birds are often wrung after enduring cross-Channel and other races (and many more perish during the course of these races)
- Some of her bare skin to the Ministry of Defence should the department still be using real bear skin for the King’s Guard’s caps when faux fur is readily available
- One of her legs, which should be removed and broken, to be displayed at Aintree during the Grand National, to draw attention to the horses who have sustained catastrophic injuries in races
- A piece of her heart to Elon Musk to clone for himself, since his cruel and deadly Neuralink brain experiments on monkeys, pigs, rats, and sheep indicate that he doesn’t have one
- Her trachea to the administrators of Crufts, the world’s largest dog show, which promotes the breeding of breathing-impaired breeds, whose shortened airways leave them gasping and panting when they try to run, play, or even walk
- Her intestines to chef Nusret Gökçe, aka Salt Bae, to use as sausage casings in his meat-focused restaurants, to make him rethink whom he is serving up
- An ear to the King of Spain in protest of bullfighting, in which the matador often cuts off the bull’s ears as a trophy
- Her hair, made into brushes, to Truefitt & Hill, the world’s oldest barbershop, whose badger hair products are sold in Harrods
“On his deathbed, they asked Bob Hope where he wanted to be buried and he replied, ‘Surprise me,’” says Newkirk. “In my case, when I die, I hope to keep on surprising those who harm animals, provoking conversation about speciesism, and campaigning against animal abuse.”
Other directions from her original will remain, including frying up her flesh (with onions) for a human barbecue, curing some of her skin to create a leather belt and purse, and sawing off her remaining foot for an umbrella stand like those made from elephants’ feet that she saw while growing up in India. She has also arranged to have another piece of her heart buried at Silverstone to honour vegan racing champ Lewis Hamilton (and because Newkirk is a lifelong Formula 1 fan!), and to send Bruno and Rupert, the teddy bears she’s had since she was a baby, to an orphanage in India.
Contact:
Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]
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