Laura Frisk went vegetarian on December 14, 1996. She remembers the date because it was the night she attended her first PETA gala. At the event, she received information about the cruelty that humans inflict on animals for our own selfish desires, and it changed her life. Not long after the gala, she decided to go vegan. Her life is now proudly shaped by that decision.
Her personal style of animal rights activism involves doing things that take place in her home office. Frisk is a dedicated "armchair activist," writing letters to the editors of newspapers and magazines and hoping to inspire the general public to live a more compassionate lifestyle. She began writing letters in behalf of animals before the Internet became popular, using only her word processor and fax machine to communicate to the editors of the world. Now with the Internet, she has access to unlimited publications and can speedily send many letters with a quick click.
She lives in Southern California with her husband, David; two dogs they adopted from an animal shelter, Lucky and Gracie; and their rescued house rabbit, Bosco—and her whole family is vegan. Frisk and her husband run a home-based business together. He is a talented artist, and she runs the administrative part of the business but also sometimes assists with glass-art projects. Being a major homebody, Frisk is happiest at home with her husband and animals, cooking delish vegan food in her kitchen or surfing the Internet for cool vegan products.
Her other hobbies include reading, watching movies at home (especially independent films), bird- and wildlife-watching in her back yard, spinning at her local YMCA, shopping, hiking in the redwood forests of Northern California whenever possible, and explaining to people how to cook tofu!
Lisa Towell is a software development manager from the heart of Silicon Valley. After 20 years with the bits and bytes, she decided to take a sabbatical to catch up on some of her other interests, including animal protection and environmental issues.
Lisa has written letters to the editor, newspaper opinion pieces, and blog posts on a variety of animal topics, and she has volunteered her time to help enact animal-friendly legislation. She enjoys keeping the cats company at her local animal shelter. She is also training to be a volunteer animal disaster responder. Lisa and her husband, Dave, share their house with two dogs, Sydney and Bodie, and two cats, Shadow and Genet, who like to make sure that Lisa and Dave don't waste too much time sleeping.
Rick Thompson went vegetarian on Thanksgiving Day in 1973—before the meal. In 1994, Rick met his partner, Ken Siegert, and within a few weeks, Ken was vegetarian as well. By the turn of the century, they were both vegan. Both are on the library staff at Franklin & Marshall College. They have three adopted shelter/rescue "children"—Winnie, Toby, and Nellie—shown in the photo. (Hint: Ken and Rick are the ones wearing hats.)
Living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, which is infamous for its puppy mills and, increasingly, its factory farms, Rick and Ken participate in efforts to raise awareness of both. They have volunteered as development coordinators for their local animal shelter, and Rick served on the board of directors for the shelter. Faithful and committed supporters of PETA since 1994, they are both members of the PETA Vanguard Society and Augustus Club.
Rick has long been an advocate for animals. Way back in 1979, he had an article published in Vegetarian Times. For a number of years, he taught classes on vegetarianism (as well as investing). He also volunteers with PETA's Writers Group, and he has had many of his letters to the editor on animal issues (among others) published.
His other interests include investing, meteorology, and natural woodland landscape gardening. Rick loves chocolate and desserts, and he enjoys vegan baking. He has a keen sense of humor. His only book, The Little Book of Peanut Butter Puns, was a commercial failure, but Rick blames that on his publisher, noting that the book was self-published.
Steve Martindale, Ph.D., has been an animal advocate his whole life, beginning with his close connection to his animal companions as a child. But his rage over how cruel our society is took some time to come to a boil.
He first studied wild animals as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam, where he noticed how we share many fundamental traits with all animals. From there, he returned to school to earn a doctorate in biology, studying animal behavior in the wild and teaching at universities. He then went on to work for more than 20 years as a financial advisor for a major Wall Street firm.
After retiring, Steve went to work as a nature guide in the jungles of Costa Rica, but he soon returned to the U.S. to stand up and fight for what he believes in most—the rights of all living beings to pursue their own lives, to follow their own wishes, and to move, play, mate, and raise their young without being tortured, tormented, or slaughtered.
Steve now has the "job of a lifetime," working for the PETA Foundation's Planned Giving Department, where he brings together his love of animals, training as a biologist, financial expertise, and "burning rage." He's excited to share his ideas and experiences with you, but he is most interested in hearing what you have to say—so please speak up!
Alisa Mullins is a senior writer at PETA. She started working at PETA in 1992 when she was 12 years old—at least that's her story, and she's sticking to it. She regularly contributes to PETA's magazine, Animal Times, and her writing has also been published in The New York Times, The Charlotte Observer, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Reader's Digest, Newsweek, and many other newspapers and magazines. Her proudest achievement is participating in a sit-in at Calvin Klein's office that led the designer to swear off fur.
Alisa lives in Norfolk, Virginia, with five rescued cats and one outnumbered dog, Keely, who is named after Alisa's favorite singer, Keely Smith (who happens to be a Norfolk native). Alisa is an avid gardener and HGTV addict who is never happier than when she has a shovel or paintbrush in her hand—except, of course, when she is writing for PETA Prime.
Scott VanValkenburg started working in animal shelters in 1979, serving as an adoption counselor, humane officer, euthanasia technician, board member, and executive director with organizations in diverse communities. After he developed a model program for off-site cat adoption using a grant from a charitable foundation, that organization hired him to administer its animal welfare grant-making. He currently leads off-site dog and cat adoption events and fosters felines as a volunteer for an open-admission animal shelter.
Scott was the 1999 Humanitarian of the Year for the Progressive Animal Welfare Society in Lynnwood, Washington, for his work combating the overpopulation of feral cats. He has handled countless thousands of animals over the decades, ranging from frightened, beaten dogs to many different types of wildlife, including an injured great horned owl. After volunteering with PETA since the early '80s, Scott finally joined the staff of the PETA Foundation in 2000 and now serves as director of major gifts.
He donated the birdbath that sits in the wildlife area at PETA's Norfolk headquarters, and he has been watching free-living birds all his life. He freed six pigeons from the killing field of the infamous Hegins Pigeon Shoot and has inspected the horrific aisles of egg factory-farm buildings, which each held some 150,000 birds. He is reportedly becoming increasingly obsessed with "listing" birds and is working on improving his ability to recognize the songs of birds who reside in North America.
The Anderlik Family
Kerry Anderlik, a field manager for a crop insurance company, works out of her house on Liberty Lake in Spokane, Washington. Her job requires extensive travel, but her real love is staying at home to garden and spend time with her rescued cats and dogs, including Sam and Zoey (pictured).
Kerry's parents, Chris and Bob, both former teachers, are the original cofounders of the animal rights group For Animals in Traverse City, Michigan. Bob played professional baseball with the Cubs, and Chris was the first person in Michigan to win a countersuit against a hunter who accused her of harassment. Chris is also an accomplished vegan cook with a self-published vegan cookbook. Bob and Chris moved to Liberty Lake in 2001 to reestablish the Animal Advocates of the Inland Northwest.
Kerry's sister Christy recently moved to Liberty Lake from Aspen, Colorado, where she taught snowboarding in the winter, and Maui, Hawaii, where she surfed and sailed the rest of the year. These days, you can find her working out at the gym, playing in tennis tournaments, picking raspberries and green beans, or volunteering as a pooper scooper at the local dog park.
Elizabeth Bublitz, owner and author of Pawfriendly Landscapes, has always been an animal activist and plant enthusiast. She combined her two passions, landscape design and love for animal companions, to create a landscape design firm called Pawfriendly Landscapes. Her company's philosophy is to let dogs design their own back yards. She bases the designs on the dogs' habits, both good and not-so-good. Pawfriendly Landscapes uses only organic material—and no shock collars or training—to create a beautiful yet functional yard.
Bublitz went vegetarian in 1990; while standing inside a McDonald's, she realized that she could not enjoy eating those who had spent their last moments afraid for their lives. Since then, she has bought only cruelty-free products.
She graduated from the University of Colorado in 1989, completed the Master Garden Program in 1994, created the landscape design/build firm Pawfriendly Landscapes in 1998, and is also the author of Pawfriendly Landscapes—How to Share the Turf When Your Backyard Belongs to Barney, coauthored by Judith H. Spurling, D.V.M.
Bublitz has lectured to audiences at Barnes & Noble bookstores, Bath Nursery, Colorado Free University, Colorado State University, Bernese Mountain Dog Rescue, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Dumb Friends League, Echter's Garden Center, Fort Collins Garden Center, Garden & Home Show, Goodwill Youth Panel, Paulino's Garden Center, and the ProGreenEXPO trade show in Colorado. She writes for Colorado Gardening and the Denver Botanic Gardens blog. Pawfriendly Landscapes was also recently featured in The New York Times.
Robin Soslow can be spotted walking with her husband and rescue dog, Petunia, near her home in Washington, D.C., or around any of the great places they travel to together. She has written about animal companions, art, health, food, environmental topics, and adventure travel for 20 years.
Coming from a family that ran a meat and vegetable market, Robin has a real awareness of food production and the nation's transition from small family farms to large, corporate-owned factory farms. Concerned about animal welfare, Robin went vegetarian 10 years ago, and she went vegan soon after. In addition to writing a cookbook for busy singles, Robin also wrote Bringing Your New Dog Home, a handbook for dog adopters.
She is the editor of KNOW, a blog about healthy, affordable, and animal-friendly living and travel. You can also follow her on Twitter @TravelVeg.
Michelle A. Rivera is the "Vegan Grandmother" of three beautiful grandkids. She shares her home with her husband, John, and their two rescued dogs, Murphy and Tabitha. Rivera is the founder of Animals 101 Inc., a humane education nonprofit corporation, and Friends in Need, a program that takes in the companion animals of victims of domestic violence and places them in safe houses until they can be reunited with their guardians. She is the author of several books on dogs, including Hospice Hounds: Animals and Healing at the Borders of Death (Lantern Books), Canines in the Classroom: Raising Humane Children Through Interactions With Animals (Lantern Books), Do Dogs Have Bellybuttons? 100 Questions and Answers About Dogs (Adams Media), and a book on vegan cooking, The Simple Little Vegan Slow Cooker (Book Publishers). She is also an essayist and has been published in the vegetarian essay book Voices From the Garden. She is currently on assignment from Book Publishers to write a series of "Simple Little Vegan" books. Besides vegan cooking, her other interests include classic and muscle cars, reading (true crime is her favorite genre), writing, and studying dogs. Rivera says, "It's not about loving animals—it's about respect." Michelle is also the West Palm Beach Animal Rights correspondent for The Examiner.
Kris Lecakes Haley is an ordained animal chaplain and co-chair of the Department of Humane Religious Studies—a department that she and her husband Craig proposed and implemented—at Emerson Theological Institute. Beginning as a media/PR coordinator for a local animal rights group, Kris has since garnered experience in virtually every area of the animal spectrum. Most recently, she managed a local animal shelter's humane-education program and then the Animals & Religion campaign for a national animal protection group. Privately, Kris led the Animal Ministry and Youth Program at her church, where she blended humane-education principles into youth curricula. She also pioneered a revision of her faith tradition's guiding principles to a more animal-centric version. Kris is also one of a handful of internationally certified Bach Flower Practitioners, dedicated exclusively to animals.
Kris and Craig (formerly an emergency animal medical technician and cruelty investigator for a local animal shelter) consider working in the service of animals a family affair. With the goal of expanding the concept of peace to include all species, they have started a company called PEACEANIMAL. Their innovative and inspirational programs and workshops bring together the communities of faith and animal welfare and advocacy by blurring the line separating human and animal spirituality. The Haleys are the grateful human companions of three dogs and a bird—all rescues … all teachers … and all beloved.
Dr. Barry Kipperman, D.V.M. (1987, University of Missouri), Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine, conducted his internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York and his residency at the University of California, Davis. He has worked in 24-hour referral practice since 1992 and currently owns VetCare, a 24-hour referral and emergency veterinary practice in Dublin, California.
Dr. Kipperman has published numerous articles on animal advocacy and veterinary ethics. He is a board-certified specialist in internal medicine and a guest lecturer for the U.C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine's ethics course. He has presented symposia on standards of care and veterinary ethics at national meetings. When away from the hospital, Dr. K. enjoys playing guitar and piano and playing with Winston the pug (pictured) and Lilly the cat. He is originally from Long Island, New York.
Ingrid E. Newkirk is the president and cofounder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the author of One Can Make a Difference (October 2008), Let's Have a Dog Party!, 50 Awesome Ways Kids Can Help Animals, Making Kind Choices, PETA's Celebrity Cookbook, 250 Things You Can Do to Make Your Cat Adore You, and Free the Animals (all available through the PETA catalog).
Newkirk began her professional work fighting against cruelty to animals as a Maryland state law enforcement officer and was the director of cruelty investigations for the Washington, D.C., Humane Society/SPCA. Since founding PETA in 1980, she has coordinated the first arrest of a scientist on cruelty-to-animals charges in U.S. history, helped pass the first anti-cruelty law in Taiwan, and created the first spay/neuter clinic in Washington, D.C. She spearheaded a successful campaign to close a U.S. Department of Defense underground "wound laboratory" and has initiated many other campaigns against animal abuse, including a campaign that ended all automakers' crash tests on animals.
Newkirk's work for animals has made the front pages of The Washington Post and many other newspapers internationally. She was named one of the top businesspeople of the year in Fortune magazine, and she has been profiled in The New Yorker, People, Forbes, and other publications. She is the subject of the award-winning 2007 HBO documentary I Am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk.
While working for human rights organizations, Scott Anderson met Ingrid Newkirk and became convinced that raising awareness about animal rights was an essential step on the path to achieving nonviolence. Under his leadership, PETA has grown to more than 2 million members and supporters. Scott's creative strategies for reaching people and inspiring them to support the fight for animal rights earned him a spot on Direct Marketing Magazine's list of the top fundraisers in the U.S.
PETA's fundraising events are always huge successes, thanks to the hard work of Scott and his team. Scott's goal is to ensure that every PETA department gets the funding it needs in order to respond to every opportunity to help animals—as well as to let members know what a real difference they make for animals through their support of PETA.
"I'm blessed to be able to get up every morning and go to work for something I believe in wholeheartedly," says Scott. "I never want to retire!"
Scott is the proud guardian of six rescued cats. (Be sure to ask him about his devoted "sidekick," Owen.)
