Animal WelfareTo prevent suffering and cruelty to animals. And to
provide care and good homes for pets in need. This
often includes, but is not limited to, the funding and
running of animal shelters (to provide a sanctuary for
abandoned, abused, homeless, or unwanted pets, and
to place them in good homes where possible, provide
painless euthanasia for those that cannot be adopted,
and to educate the public about the need for
spaying/neutering their pets to prevent more surplus
animals ending up in shelters), enforcement of
anti-cruelty statutes (where their authority permits),
initiating, lobbying for, and monitoring enforcement
of legislation to ensure more humane standards of
care for livestock, laboratory animals, performing
animals, and pets. When you actually take the time to read the differences between the two it becomes clearly evident that these are very disparate opinions and both bring up many issues that people have been fighting to change in our overall view of animals and their rights in this world. I highlighted the end of the Animal Rights definition for a reason. Most of us reading this column have companion animals. What would our lives be without them? But more significantly if pets/companion animals were no longer allowed what would that do to entire species of animals? How can anyone endorse animal rights if they proport to advocate the entire annihilation of species? More than that, it’s well documented that animals and humans form a very special bond that is loving for both. Why should this be deemed wrong or illegal?To quote one of the national directors of PETA:“Pet ownership is an absolutely
abysmal situation brought
about by human manipulation.”
— Ingrid Newkirk, national director,
People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PeTA), Just Like Us?
Toward a Nation of Animal Rights”
(symposium), Harper’s, August 1988,
p. 50.