Animal Rights vs Animal Welfare
Information for informed decisions - Decide after reading this information if you want to support PETA or the Humane Society of the United States.
Animal Welfare or Animal Rights?
Here are some of the differences:
As animal welfare advocates. . .
We seek to improve the treatment and well-being of animals.
We support the humane treatment of animals that ensures comfort and freedom from unnecessary pain and suffering.
We believe we have the right to "own" animals -- they are our property.
We believe animal owners should provide loving care for the lifetime of their animals.
As animal rights activists. . .
They seek to end the use and ownership of animals, including the keeping of pets.
They believe that any use of an animal is exploitation so, not only must we stop using animals for food and clothing, but pet ownership must be outlawed as well.
They want to obtain legal rights for animals as they believe that animals and humans are equal.
They use false and unsubstantiated allegations of animal abuse to raise funds, attract media attention and bring supporters into the movement. (The Inhumane Crusade, Daniel T. Oliver)
The Twelve Steps of the Animal Rights Agenda
("The Politics of Animal Liberation," by Kim Bartlett, editor of Animals' Agenda, November 1987.)
1. Abolish by law all animal research.
2. Abolish by law all other types of animal testing.
3. Encourage vegetarianism for ethical, ecological, and health reasons.
4. Phase out intensive confinement livestock production.
5. Eliminate use of herbicides, pesticides, etc.
6. Transfer animal law enforcement of Department of Agriculture to another agency.
7. Eliminate commercial trapping and fur ranching.
8. Prohibit hunting, trapping and fishing for sport.
9. Urge US action to prevent destruction of rainforests and end international trade in wildlife and goods produced from exotic and/or endangered fauna or flora.
10. Discourage any further breeding of companion animals, including pedigreed or purebred dogs and cats. Promote spay and neuter of all pets by government subsidized clinics.
11. End the use of animals in entertainment and sports, with reappraisal of zoos and aquariums.
12. Prohibit genetic manipulation of species.
"For one thing we would no longer allow breeding. People could not create different breeds. If people had companion animals in their homes, these animals would have to be refugees from the animal shelter and the streets … But as the surplus of cats and dogs declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship — enjoyment at a distance." -- Ingrid Newkirk, National Director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
Chris DeRose, Last Chance for Animals
"Saying that human concerns outweigh animal concerns is just more bullshit."
(Animal rights rally, Edison, New Jersey, November 30, 2002)
"If the death of one rat cured all diseases, it wouldn't make any difference to me." (As quoted in "Biting Back," Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1990, p. E12)
Michael Fox, Vice President, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
"Humane care (of animals) is simply sentimental, sympathetic patronage."
(1988 Newsweek interview)
"The life of an ant and the life of my child should be accorded equal respect."
(Associated Press, Jan. 15, 1989)
"We are not superior. There are no clear distinctions between us and animals."
(Washingtonian Magazine, February 1990)
Wayne Pacelle, Senior Vice President, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
"We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of selective breeding. One generation and out."
(Animal People, May 1993)
J.P. Goodwin, Humane Society of the United States, former Executive Director of the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade
"My goal is the abolition of all animal agriculture."
(As quoted on AR-Views, an animal rights Internet discussion group in 1996)
Ingrid Newkirk, Founder, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA)
"Animal liberationists do not separate out the human animal, so there is no basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. They're all mammals."
(Vogue, September 1989)
On animal rights arson and violence: "Would I rather the research lab that tests on animals is reduced to a bunch of cinders? Yes."
(New York Daily News, Dec. 12, 1997)
On dog breeding and pet ownership: "Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought on by human manipulation. We would no longer allow breeding. As the surplus of cats and dogs declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship-enjoyment at a distance."
(Harper's Magazine, August 1988)
"[H]owever sympathetically you interpret the Judeo-Christian religious tradition, it puts animals in a fundamentally different category from human beings ... I think in the end we have, reluctantly, to recognize that the Judeo-Christian religious tradition is our foe."
- Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation and PETA's philosophical godfather
