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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)

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  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.

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  Quotes From The Animal Rights Movement

  "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

  "Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation." — Ingrid Newkirk, National Director of PeTA

  "One generation and out. We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding." — Wayne Pacelle, Vice-President of the Humane Society of the US, former Executive Director of Fund for Animals)

  "There are fundamental and profound differences between the philosophy of animal welfare and that of animal rights . Thus welfare reforms, by their very nature, can only serve to retard the pace at which animal rights goals are achieved." — Gary Francione and Tom Regan, "A Movement's Means Create Its Ends," Animals' Agenda

  "HSUS is definitely shifting in the direction of animal rights faster than anyone would realize from our literature." — John McArdle, then director of lab animal welfare for HSUS, 1986. McArdle now works for the American Anti-Vivisection Society.

  "Avoid the words 'animal rights' and 'anti-vivisection.' They are too strange for the public. Never appear to be opposed to animal research." — John McArdle, HSUS convention 1984

  "The life of an ant and that of my child should be given equal consideration." — Michael W. Fox, HSUS vice president.

  "There is no rational basis for maintaining a moral distinction between the treatment of humans and other animals." — HSUS News, 1980

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