the as-yet-unexecuted will of Ingrid Newkirk:
The second beneficiary is Kenneth Feld, owner of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. He can expect to receive her pointing finger to stand as "the greatest accusation on Earth" on behalf of animals used for public entertainment.
Her stipulations are in accord with the spirit of outrage fostered by Peta, which is based in the United States. In the past, its members have dropped a dead raccoon on the plate of a lunching Anna Wintour, editor of American Vogue, over the use of fur in the magazine and claimed � without evidence � that the fat in milk contributed to the prostrate cancer of the former mayor of New York, Rudy Guiliani.
Ms Newkirk also said in her will that she hoped foot-and-mouth disease would reach the US since it would harm those "who profit from giving people heart attacks".
Ms Newkirk, 53, who was born in England, is still going strong as the mainstay of Peta. She stressed that the final decision over the use of her body remained with Peta. When she does die, lunching fashion editors may feel the need to examine the contents of their plates a little more carefully than usual.
Terry Kirby Independent UK 19 April 2003
