3 h. ago ‘Too far? I don’t think we’ve gone far enough!’ The founder of Peta on gruesome stunts and her bloody fight for animal rights

After 45 years as chief fake blood thrower, Ingrid Newkirk is still waging war on everything from leather to cashmere. Is she still relevant?Ingrid Newkirk was 54 when she thought she was going to die in a plane crash. It was late summer and the founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) was flying from Minneapolis in the US to the company HQ in Norfolk, Virginia when her plane encountered strong wind shear. The pilot attempted an emergency landing, but failed; back up they went.On the third attempt, with “a teaspoon of fuel” in the tank, he finally got the plane down safely. During those moments, Newkirk, now 76, scribbled a will on a napkin. She has tweaked it over the years, but it still reads like a horror movie prop list: her liver is to be sent to France to be made into foie gras, her skin to Hermès to create a handbag and her lips to whichever US president is in power, to shame them for granting a “patronising” pardon to a turkey each Thanksgiving. As wills...

Events

3 d. ago Going to the Dogs review – lovable canines at the heart of a sport in decline

Documentary examines British greyhound racing with affection and respect but doesn’t shy away from the opposing views of animal rights activists At one point in this documentary about greyhound racing, an interviewee describes it as a fundamentally working-class sport, and it’s hard to argue with that. And like so many British working-class pleasures and pursuits, shifting tastes and the relentless march of gentrification have seen its popularity wane substantially since heydays past. This frisky film explores the canine-centric milieu with affection and respect – but, laudably, it also makes room, about halfway through its runtime, for the case against racing as articulated by several animal rights activists who decry the conditions in which some dogs are raised, the practice of euthanising animals deemed no longer viable for racing, and the injury risks racing itself poses.Naturally, the trainers, breeders and owners we meet here violently disagree with these critiques. It’s to di...

Politics

1 week ago Jury reaches verdict in trial of activist who took chickens from Purdue plant

A verdict has been reached in the trial of a California animal rights activist for taking four chickens from a major Perdue Farms poultry plant

Politics

1 week ago At least 174 racehorses died from racing or training injuries in past 12 months in Australia, report finds

That’s the highest number recorded by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses since they began tracking deaths 10 years agoFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAt least 174 thoroughbred racehorses died at the track or as a result of injuries sustained while racing or training in the past 12 months – the highest number recorded by animal rights activists since they began tracking 10 years ago.The report from the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) was released on Tuesday, one week ahead of Australia’s most important horse race, the Melbourne Cup. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago She took chickens that were going to die in a factory farm. Was it a rescue or a crime?

Zoe Rosenberg, a California student, is on trial over a tactic that animal rights activists consider a moral imperative. Critics say its a threat to the food supplyOn a Monday afternoon in late September, Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old University of California, Berkeley, student, emerged from a courtroom in Santa Rosa, California. Flanked by her lawyers, she moved briskly through the courthouse corridors, past more than 100 prospective jurors.Pinned to her black blazer was a tiny silver chicken, glinting on the lapel. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago She took chickens from a slaughterhouse. Was it a rescue or a crime?

Zoe Rosenberg, a California student, is on trial over a tactic that animal rights activists consider a moral imperative. Critics say it’s a threat to the food supplyOn a Monday afternoon in late September, Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old University of California, Berkeley, student, emerged from a courtroom in Santa Rosa, California. Flanked by her lawyers, she moved briskly through the courthouse corridors, past more than 100 prospective jurors.Pinned to her black blazer was a tiny metallic chicken, glinting on the lapel. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Leading conservationists just decided that genetically engineering wild animals is OK – sometimes. They’re right | Helen Pilcher

Humans have been selectively breeding animals for millennia. If we can help species survive by tweaking their DNA in a lab, I say bring it onDo you think we should genetically modify wildlife? What if we could make seabirds resistant to the flu that has been exterminating them en masse, just by tweaking their DNA a smidgen? Or make fish that can shrug off pollution, or coral that can survive warming waters? Engineer in the sorts of change that could occur naturally, given enough time, if only the wildlife would stop dying already.Thanks to newly emerging methods, such as Crispr, these feats are within reach. Recently, conservationists met at the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) 2025 World Conservation Congress where they debated GM wildlife and voted on a proposed moratorium that would stymie their release into the wild. Ahead of the meeting, a group of more than 90 NGOs issued a press release urging the IUCN to “say no to engineered wild species.” But humans ...

Politics

2 w. ago Scientists say North Atlantic right whale population slowly increasing

Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the most venerable of the leviathans now numbers 384, up eight from past yearOne of the rarest whales on the planet has continued an encouraging trend of population growth in the wake of new efforts to protect the giant animals, according to scientists who study them.The North Atlantic right whale now numbers an estimated 384 animals, up eight whales from the previous year, according to a report by the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium released on Tuesday. The whales have shown a trend of slow population growth over the past four years and have gained more than 7% of their 2020 population, the consortium said. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Katie Price is branded 'the Grim Reaper' by an animal rights organisation in brutal new campaign

Katie Price has been branded 'the Grim Reaper' by an animal rights organisation after a succession of pets died in care.

Economics

3 w. ago Humanish by Justin Gregg review – how much of a person is your pet?

From prosthetic testicles for dogs to sociable reptiles, a behavioural scientist explains what we get wrong – and right – about animal mindsIn the 1970s a former Soviet naval officer named Igor Charkovsky popularised a concept which came to be known as dolphin-assisted birth. Likely inspired by New Age theories, he urged expectant mothers to dip in the ice-cold water of the Black Sea, commune with dolphins, and give birth underwater. In the “very near future,” he claimed, “a newborn child would be able to live in the ocean with a pod of dolphins and feed on dolphin milk”.The oddest thing about Charkovsky was not so much his theory, but its remarkable resilience within both Soviet and western culture, as Justin Gregg sets out in his illuminating and lively new book. Gregg’s work is both a dissection and an ode to the irresistible allure of anthropomorphism, our tendency to apply human characteristics to non-humans, whether animals, objects, AI, or God. An expert on ani...

Politics

3 w. ago Katie Price dubbed 'grim reaper' by activists who turned her into Halloween costume

Katie Price has been branded the 'grim reaper' by an animal rights group, who have released a limited-edition Halloween fancy dress kit parodying the star

Economics