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Indian American named inaugural PETA International chief
As president, Joshipura says she will focus on technological and scientific innovation to reduce animal exploitation.
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Malvika Choudhary - Thu, 11, Sep 2025
- 16:26 EDT
- 23
Poorva Joshipura / PETA
Indian American activist Poorva Joshipura was appointed the first-ever president of PETA International, marking a significant milestone in the global animal rights movement.
Suffolk-raised Joshipura, who has spent more than 25 years advancing animal liberation, will now oversee the organization’s operations and projects in Europe, Asia, and parts of the Middle East.
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Reflecting on her commitment to animal rights, Joshipura said, “Years ago, in a slaughterhouse where I was recording how badly cows are killed for leather, I locked eyes with a frightened calf who was pinned to the ground, aware of his pending death, and at that moment vowed to dedicate my life to animal liberation. For more than 25 years with PETA entities, from undercover investigator to leading international campaigns, I’ve been true to that pledge.”
Welcoming the appointment, PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk said, “Poorva has been an unstoppable force in the animal liberation movement. Her extraordinary drive and determination are invaluable in extending our vital efforts to help animals everywhere.”
As president, Joshipura says she will focus on technological and scientific innovation to reduce animal exploitation. “I’m deeply honored to help shape the global future of animal liberation and put compassion on every map in my new role,” she said. “I will seek to harness technological solutions for animal protection, apply cultural intelligence to advance liberation, and promote the unshakable truth that how we treat animals defines us.”
Born in the United States to parents from Gujarat, Joshipura graduated magna cum laude in psychology from Old Dominion University. She began volunteering with PETA as a teenager and formally joined as an intern at its Norfolk, Virginia headquarters in 1999. By the age of 23, she was working as a research associate for PETA US.
Over the years, she has held senior leadership roles, including director of PETA UK, senior vice president of international affairs for PETA Foundation UK, and chief executive officer of PETA India.
Her activism has included headline-making protests—disrupting a New York fashion show against fur, staging demonstrations in Nairobi and Delhi, and contributing to the Indian Supreme Court’s ban on the use of bulls for entertainment. Just last month in Delhi, she staged a protest simulating animal experiments to draw attention to the abuse of dogs and monkeys in laboratories supplying clients in North America.
Joshipura’s track record includes persuading Mercedes-Benz to be the first automobile retailer to offer leather-free interiors, halting animal testing initiatives in Europe and India, and helping to end the use of horse-drawn carriages in Petra and Mumbai.
She is also the author of For a Moment of Taste, an exposé on the treatment of animals used for food in India, and Survival at Stake, which explores the connection between animal treatment and human survival.
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