# Animal Rights is Not Animal Welfare



## testmg80 (Jul 28, 2008)

*<Opinions expressed below are not neccesarily the opinion of the poster (me).>*

Throughout most of history, human beings adopted more and more enlightened standards of animal "welfare" for their pets, livestock, and laboratory animals. Insisting on humane treatment for animals was an important economic decision. Farmers know that happy livestock animals produce more milk, better beef, and more valuable leather. Medical researchers know that their scientific work is meaningless without healthy lab animals. Animal welfare standards are just one way humans acknowledge the important bond between us and the animal world.

But beginning in the second half of the twentieth century, activists lost their way. Instead of striving to strengthen this relationship by improving the lives of animals in our care, an extremist movement began attempting to terminate that connection entirely. Today, we call it the animal "rights" movement.

Animal-rights activists believe that animals should be completely separate from humankind. Their goal is to guarantee that the human race has absolutely no access to animals, no matter how important they may be for our survival and progress.

Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), summed up the goal of today's modern animal rights movement in a recent speech. "Our goal," Newkirk told the Animal Rights 2002 convention, "is total animal liberation."

For the uninitiated, "total animal liberation" means permanently eliminating much of what we take for granted-regardless of how responsibly farmers, scientists, or trainers treat their animals. It may be hard to imagine a world without meat, eggs, leather, milk, or circuses; but there's no denying that animal-rights activists are gradually shifting these ordinary things to society's margins.

How? By consciously, shamelessly, viciously attacking people and businesses that don't subscribe to their "four legs good, two legs bad" world-view. Since the animal rights movement began gathering strength, over $100 million in property damage has been cause by animal-rights activists. A medical research executive was beaten with baseball bats. Countless death threats have been issued. Scientists have been sent razor blades in the mail. Trucks and buildings have been firebombed. Boats have been sunk.

"People have died, and are going to die," said former Animal Liberation Front "spokesperson" and SHAC organizer Kevin Kjonaas at the "Animal Rights 2002" convention. "This isn't a joke. It's not a game." 
Here's just a partial list of what supporters of this violence-prone movement want us all to do without:

Food
Bacon
Beef
Butter
Cheese
Chicken
Eggs
Hamburgers
Honey
Kosher slaughter
Milk
Milk chocolate
Omelets
Pork
Turkey
Veal
Clothing
Angora sweaters
Cashmere blazers
Fur coats
Leather belts
Leather jackets
Leather shoes
Leather wallets
Silk scarves
Silk stockings
Silk ties
Wool scarves & mittens
Wool sweaters
Worsted wool suits
Sports & Entertainment
Aquariums
Bullfighting
Circuses
Equestrian competition
Fishing
Greyhound racing
Horse racing
Horse-drawn carriages
Hunting
Magic shows using animals
Movies with animal actors
Pet ownership
Ranching
Rodeos
Whaling
Zoos

Science & Nature
Agricultural pesticides
Biology-class dissection
Fish farms
Medical research using animal test subjects
Surgical training using live animals

In the United States today, there are over 100 organizations dedicated to enforcing this animal "rights" mentality. Their annual budgets total more than $200 million. And they're deadly serious about achieving their goals.

In contrast, the people who are doing the most to promote animal welfare today are the very ones that the animal rights movement wants to put out of business.

Farmers can't survive without carefully-tended livestock. Many medical advances depend on the meticulous care given to lab animals. Anglers and hunters have a vested interest in the sustainability of animal populations that are vital to their sport. And millions of children learn important life lessons by visiting zoos and aquariums-and by loving and caring for dogs, cats, and other pets.

In a dishonest attempt to turn ordinary Americans against the responsible stewardship of animals, animal-rights activists have historically polluted the arena of ideas with shrill rhetoric, headline-grabbing stunts, and violent crimes. Their louder-is-better mentality threatens to further blur the line between animal welfare and animal rights. The consequences of this for our way of life would be disastrous.

If you want to support the humane treatment of animals, by all means support your local animal shelter, your local humane society (not the animal-rights-oriented Humane Society of the United States), or your local zoological park. It's true that animals deserve your help. But animal-rights organizations do not.

Opposing Views: OPINION: Animal Rights is Not Animal Welfare

AnimalScam | Animal Rights Is Not Animal Welfare


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## shortbackandsides (Aug 28, 2008)

a bit heavy going for this time of night,will look in morning after a few cups of coffee


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## raindog (Jul 1, 2008)

PETA's view is that Pet=Slave, so everyone who owns a pet is a slaver. This twisted logic is what led some of their supporters to collect dogs from shelters, kill them, put them into black bags and dump them in skips. In their twisted minds, they were saving these poor dogs from slavery. Pity they weren't able to ask the dogs whether they preferred to live or die! - So much for animal rights!

Mick


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## MattNW (Nov 29, 2008)

If the nuts pushing this attitude got their way tomorrow the whole world would pratctially stop working. People would starve, civilization would be impossible to maintain and we'd all be back to the stone age. 

Sounds to me like a bunch who have completely lost contact with reality. I'm all for humane use of animals but to stop all animal/human interaction is impossible from the start. We don't live in isolated worlds. Humans and animals will come into contact and conflict in some manner or another unless all humans simply lay down and die and I doubt that is going to happen.


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## dzuh (Nov 30, 2008)

I have been a career animal protection activist for more than four years now, and I have met literally hundreds of animal rights activists. The vast majority, I would estimate well over 90%, have companion animals: I myself have two cats. In addition, I have NEVER met anyone who believes in separating humans from animals: there may be a few people out there who adhere to this philosophy, but they do NOT represent the animal rights movement. Same with the comment about the animal rights movement being "violence-prone": animal rights advocates OVERWHELMINGLY reject violence as a tactic for helping animals. I speak from experience on this issue, and live my values every day. I love animals, and I have dedicated my life to ending lethal violence against the innocent through peaceful means. Anyone who believes that it is "humane" to kill animals for food, clothing, "sport," etc. doesn't understand the meaning of that word. People who hate on animal rights activists probably haven't met that many of them. It's classic prejudice: you fear what you don't understand.


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## MattNW (Nov 29, 2008)

@Dzuh

That's true of the vast majority of the grass roots of these groups. You and millions of others have the right attitude and do wonderful things for animals. The problem is that many of these groups also have a dark side. They use donations from well meaning members to fund terroristic organizations that do the bad stuff.


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