Animal rights groups
seek the end to all breeding of animals. Their stated ultimate goal is no use of
animals by man -- for food,
fiber, medical research
nor even as pets. This is apparent from the quotes of their
agendas and views you will find below. Animal rights and Animal Welfare have markedly different
philosophies.
ANIMAL RIGHTS
AND "COMPANION ANIMALS"
"We are not especially 'interested in' animals. Neither
of us had ever been inordinately fond of dogs, cats, or horses in the way that many people
are. We didn't 'love' animals." -- Peter Singer*, Animal Liberation: A New Ethic for Our
Treatment of Animals, 2nd ed. (New York Review of Books, 1990), Preface, p. ii.
*Peter Singer is the acknowledged
founding father and chief guru of the Animal Rights movement. Singer's disciple is Ingrid
Newkirk, who co-founded People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also known as PETA.
For more information, read About Peter Singer
&
Who is Peter
Singer?
In a perfect world, all
other-than-human animals would be free of human interference, and dogs and cats would be
part of the ecological scheme, as they were before humans domesticated them and as they
remain in some parts of the undeveloped world. From The PETA
Statement on Companion Animals
"In a perfect world, animals would be free to live
their lives to the fullest: raising their young, enjoying their native environments, and
following their natural instincts. However, domesticated dogs and cats cannot survive
"free" in our concrete jungles, so we must take as good care of them as
possible. People with the time, money, love, and patience to make a lifetime commitment to
an animal can make an enormous difference by adopting from shelters or rescuing animals
from a perilous life on the street. But it is also important to stop manufacturing
"pets," thereby perpetuating a class of animals forced to rely on humans to
survive." - PETA pamphlet, Companion
Animals: Pets or Prisoners?
MORE PETA
"The cat, like the dog, must
disappear... We should cut the domestic cat free from our dominance by
neutering, neutering, and more neutering, until our pathetic version of the cat ceases to
exist." - John Bryant, Fettered
Kingdoms: An Examination of A Changing Ethic (Washington, DC: People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 1982), p. 15.
"It is time we demand an end to the misguided and
abusive concept of animal ownership. The first step on this long, but just, road would be
ending the concept of pet ownership." - Elliot Katz, President, In Defense of Animals, "In Defense of
Animals," Spring 1997
FROM HSUS
"Human care (of animals) is simply sentimental,
sympathetic patronage." - Dr.
Michael W. Fox, HSUS, in 1988 Newsweek interview
"We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of
livestock produced through selective breeding. ... One generation and out.
We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are
creations of human selective breeding." - Wayne Pacelle, Senior
Vice-President oF HSUS, formerly
of Friends for Animals; Quoted in Animal People, May, 1993
"The life of an ant and that of my child should be granted equal
consideration." -
Wayne Pacelle, Senior
Vice-President oF HSUS, formerly
of Friends for Animals - In Inhumane Society, 1990
"The life of an ant and the life of my child should be accorded equal
respect." - Wayne Pacelle, Senior
Vice-President oF HSUS, formerly
of Friends for Animals, The Associated Press, Jan. 15, 1989
THE
TWELVE STEPS OF THE ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS AGENDA
The agenda is taken from
"The politics of Animal Liberation" written by Kim Barlett, Editor of the Animals' Agenda, Nov. 1987
but a miminally
modified version is part of the Green Party Platform for 2000
THE AGENDA
1. Abolish by law animal research.
2. Outlaw the use of animals for cosmetic
and product testing, classroom demonstrations and weapons development.
3. Vegetarian meals should be made available
at all public institutions, including schools.
4. Eliminate all animal agriculture. (this
is your food sources people)
5. End herbicides, pesticides, and other
Agricultural chemicals. Outlaw predator control.
6. Transfer enforcement of animal welfare legislation away from the dept. of Agriculture
7. Eliminate fur ranching and end the use of
furs.
8. Prohibit hunting, trapping and fishing.
9. End the international trade in wildlife
goods.
10. STOP ANY FURTHER BREEDING OF COMPANION
ANIMALS, INCLUDING PUREBRED DOGS AND CATS. SPAYING AND NEUTERING SHOULD BE SUBSIDIZED BY
STATE AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS. COMMERCE IN DOMESTIC AND EXOTIC ANIMALS FOR THE PET TRADE
SHOULD BE ABOLISHED.
11. End the use of animals in entertainment
ANIMAL RIGHTS...IN
THE WORDS OF ITS LEADERS
"The bottom line is that people don't have the right to
manipulate or to breed dogs and cats ... If people want toys they should buy inanimate
objects. If they want companionship they should seek it with their own kind." - Ingrid Newkirk, President, PETA, "Animals," May/June 1993
"I don't use the word 'pet.' I think
it's speciest language. I prefer 'companion animal.' We would no longer allow... pet
shops... Eventually companion animals would be phased out." (Harper's Magazine, Aug. 1988)
"One day we would like an end to pet shops
and breeding animals [Dogs] would pursue their natural lives in the wild." - Ingrid Newkirk, Chicago Daily
Herald, March 1, 1990
- Ingrid Newkirk, Chicago Daily
Herald, March 1, 1990- Ingrid Newkirk, Chicago Daily
Herald, March 1, 1990- Ingrid Newkirk, Chicago Daily
Herald, March 1, 1990
"I think the whole concept of private
property as an ultimate 'good' has got to be replaced. There's a higher good out there
than private property...." David Foreman, co-founder and leader, Earth First! (Animal
Rights Reporter, June, 1989)
"You don't have to own squirrels and
starlings to get enjoyment from them....One day, we would like an end to pet shops and the
breeding of animals. [Dogs] would pursue their natural lives in the wild....They would
have full lives, not wasting at home for someone to come home in the evening and pet them
and then sit there and watch TV."
("Where Would We Be Without Animals?", Chicago Daily Herald, March 1, 1990)
"Pet ownership is an absolutely
abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation." Ingrid Newkirk, PETA, "Just Like Us? Toward a Notion of Animal
Rights" (symposium) Harper's, August 1988, p. 50.
"Let us allow the dog to
disappear from our brick and concrete jungles- from our firesides, from the leather nooses
and chains by which we enslave it." John Bryant, Fettered
Kingdoms: An Examination of A Changing Ethic (Washington D C, PETA, 1982). p. 15
"As the surplus of cats and dogs
(artifically engineered by centuries forced breeding) declined, eventually companion
animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship -
enjoyment from a distance." Ingrid
Newkirk, "Just Like Us?......(see above)
****
ALEX PACHECO, THEN CHAIRMAN, PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL
TREATMENT OF ANIMALS [PETA] (NEW YORK TIMES, JANUARY 14, 1989):
"We feel that animals have the
same rights as a retarded human child"
****
GARY FRANCIONE, DIRECTOR OF THE RUTGERS
ANIMAL RIGHTS LAW CLINIC:
"The theory of animal rights is simply
not consistent with the theory of animal welfare or other approaches that reject the
rights view and, more importantly, embrace animal exploitation. Animal rights means
dramatic social changes for humans and nonhumans alike; if our bourgeois values prevent us
from accepting those changes. then we have no right to call ourselves advocates of animal
rights." (THE ANIMALS' VOICE, VOL. 4, NO. 2, pp. 54-55)
****
FRANCIONE AND REGAN:
"As long as humans have rights and
nonhumans do not, as is the case in the welfarist framework then nonhumans will virtually
always lose when their interests conflict with human interests. Thus welfare reforms, by
their very nature, can only serve to retard the pace at which animal rights goals are
achieved." ("A MOVEMENT'S MEANS CREATE
ITS ENDS," ANIMALS' AGENDA, JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1992)
****
DAVID FOREMAN CO-FOUNDER AND LEADER, EARTH
FIRST! (Animal Rights Reporter, June, 1989)
"I think the whole concept of private
property as an ultimate good has got to be replaced. There's a higher good out there than
private property."
****
In Q&A session following speech,
"Animal Rights, Human Wrongs", University Of Wisconsin-Madison, October 27,
1989, REGAN, when asked which he would save, a dog or a baby, if a boat capsized in the
ocean:
"If it were a retarded baby and a
bright dog, I'd save the dog."
OTHER QUOTES
REGARDING ANIMAL RIGHTS GOALS:
"The liberation of animal life
can only be achieved through radical transformation of human consciousness and the
overthrow of the existing power structures which human and animal abuse are
entrenched." Trans-Species Unlimited (Readers Digest, June 1990)
The animal rights movement is "
part of a revolutionary process aimed at restructuring the major institution of
society...." Dr. Morgan, Mobilization for Animals (from
his book, Love and Anger, An animal rights organizers' handbook).
*******************
And lest we forget
where we're seen similar rhetoric and Animal Rights trumpeted before:
"Man should not feel so
superior to animals.
He has not the right to." Adolph Hitler, 1939
