PETA Prez Newkirk to waive costs should new AWI BOD drop suit
20 Oct '05
2 min read
Lawyers representing PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk have sent a letter to Australian Wool Innovation's (AWI) legal team, offering to surrender her right to claim legal costs if, following the AWI election on 9 November, the new board secures an end to its lawsuit aimed at silencing PETA's call for an international boycott of Australian merino wool.
The lawsuit is in its fifth incarnation, having been entirely struck out once and recently whittled down heavily by the presiding judge. AWI was ordered to pay Newkirk's legal fees earlier this year, and this bill is expected to grow should AWI ultimately lose the case, as Newkirk is confident it will.
Newkirk informs that AWI's Board has done nothing but stand in the way of progress and waste its members' money. Hopefully, farmers will respond in November by installing a board that will stop throwing away millions on a lost cause and get down to the business of improving animal welfare.
AWI has spent millions during the past year alone trying to shore up the battered image of Australian wool. Millions more will be spent taking PETA on in the courts. Newkirk is making this offer in the hope that AWI's new board will recognise that both it and PETA should be spending money looking out for animal welfare rather than pouring money into a misguided and doomed lawsuit.
In July, the Australian Wool Growers Association reached a landmark agreement with PETA that would have resulted in live export reforms and an immediate, industrywide reduction in lamb mutilations. But AWI refused to sign on to the agreement, which resulted in the resumption of PETA's boycott.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), with more than 850,000 members and supporters, is the largest animal rights organization in the world. Founded in 1980, PETA is dedicated to establishing and protecting the rights of all animals. PETA operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment.
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