PETA President Ingrid Newkirk has a last will and testament like no other. It’s not that she’s giving away all her money or that she’s leaving her property to some organization, it’s that she’s planning to gift her body parts to people and corporations around the world, hoping to send a message like no other.
The will, which was updated for the first time in 20 years, is quite fascinating. The first thing on the list is a request that her flesh be used in a human barbecue, and the second asks that her skin be used to make a leather belt and purse.
The more dramatic requests feature plans to mail parts of her body directly to specific people and companies. This includes her foot to The North Face, which is meant to symbol a kick in behind for continuing to sell down and wool products “despite claiming to be committed to making environmentally friendly clothing”.
Other highlights include the use of her intestines to make sausage casings to be sent to Salt Bae, her lips to the U.S. President if the turkey pardon is still a yearly occurrence, a piece of her heart to Elon Musk “since his cruel and deadly Neuralink brain experiments on monkeys, pigs, rats, and sheep indicate that he doesn’t have one”, part of her trachea to the Westminster Dog Show, and much, much more.
“On his deathbed, they asked Bob Hope where he wanted to be buried and he replied, ‘Surprise me.’ In my case, when I die, I will hope to keep right on surprising those who harm animals, provoking conversation about speciesism, and campaigning against animal abuse.” – Ingrid Newkirk
The North Face does point out their commitment to following a responsible down standard on their website and PETA did award the company back in 2016 for the creation of the ThermoBall down alternative, but neither of those seem enough to keep the outdoor company off of the president’s list.
The likelihood of any of these requests being carried out is probably pretty slim, but the will itself, like it or not, sends a pretty strong message.
Image Credit: PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) via Facebook