The Truth about PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)

Here are direct quotes on the subject of breeding and owning pets from Ingrid Newkirk, head of PETA, and some other of her ilk:
"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?

"I don't use the word "pet". I think it's speciesist language. I prefer "companion animal." For one thing, we would no longer allow breeding. People could not create different breeds. There would be no pet shops. If people had companion animals in their homes, those animals would have to be refugees from the animal shelters and the streets. You would have a protective relationship with them just as you would with an orphaned child. But as the surplus of cats and dogs (artificially engineered by centuries of forced breeding) declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship - enjoyment at a distance." --Ingrid Newkirk, PETA vice-president, quoted in The Harper's Forum Book, Jack Hitt, ed., 1989, p.223.

"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

"Liberating our language by eliminating the word 'pet' is the first step ... In an ideal society where all exploitation and oppression has been eliminated, it will be NJARA's policy to oppose the keeping of animals as'pets.'" --New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, "Should Dogs Be Kept As Pets? NO!" Good Dog! February 1991, p.20

"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, PETA, 1982, p.15.

"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, PETA 1982, p.15.

"As John Bryant has written in his book Fettered Kingdoms, they [pets] are like slaves, even if well-kept slaves." --PETA's Statement on Companion Animals

"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

"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." --Ingrid Newkirk, President, PETA, Chicago Daily Herald, March 1, 1990.

"Pet ownership is an abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation." --Ingrid Newkirk, President, PETA, Washingtonian, August 1986

"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

These people are the enemy--they are relentless in the pursuit of their goals. If we don't wake up and smell the coffee, we'll be legislated out of existence!

Cindy Cooke
New Breeds & Standards
United Kennel Club
http://www.ukcdogs.com

Hi everyone,
 I was asked my thoughts on dog people being PETA members & I begged to  have my thoughts sent to those of you who are involved in this  discussion, as I am there in the trenches daily. So you understand that I  have a deep love of the Elkhound, of breeding & showing , I tell you what  I do now & what I have done in the past.
 I have been involved with Elkhounds since 1974, have served in most  offices in the NEAA (11years) have acted as Show Chair & just about every  office in a local kennel club & I am currently the registered lobbyist  for the GA. Coalition of Dog Clubs with members throughout the state. I  spend almost every day from January through March at our state capitol  working to see that laws unfavorable to the dog community, do not get  passed. I also spend hundreds of my own dollars in travel, printing etc  to get the message out to our community yearly. We do everything but get  down on our knees to get the dog people to take their head out of the  sand & to become aware-if not involved & to support us financially &  emotionally. We do manage some money, but never enough & when someone  told me thank you last week for the wonderful job I do, I almost burst  into tears. When we get a little emotional support we don't know what to  do!! There is an ever present danger to all of us who want to own, breed  & show dogs from the animal rights movement. A wave of anti ownership &  anti breeder is sweeping the world, not just this country. While the dog  community has done much better in acting responsibly, we are still  constantly under attack from rightists who would see that all animals  roam free, that no testing be done on animals & that nobody wear fur or  leather or that we all eat nothing but roots & plants.

 Ingrid Newkirk, the founder of PETA espouses the theory that animals are equal to people. Her most famous saying goes something like - a dog is a frog is a rat is a boy. In other words they are all the same. Recently  here in Atlanta, the poultry growers had a convention downtown. Poultry  is the number one cash crop in the state-probably most of the chicken  most of you around the country eat came from Georgia. PETA hired a man to dump an entire dump truck load (4 tons) of manure in front of the GA World Congress Center which blocked traffic for miles & cost the taxpayers many thousands of dollars to clean the up mess . I have attended their rallies where they fire up the youthful members looking for a cause to wreak havoc on such places as Yerkes Primate Center & Emory U. Is this the kind of behavior you condone? If you are a member, you may as well have participated. These two institutions have done much to further health care in this country. There is not one gay person who has not benefited directly or indirectly from research done on animals. It is only because of this research that these folks are leading longer & less fearful lives. Anyone who takes an aspirin or is insulin dependent is a hypocrite if they support PETA. Does anyone own a leather belt or shoes---you have violated one of PETA's main tenets.

It is each individual's duty to check out an organization before joining, failure to do so is irresponsible. By becoming a member of any group & giving them your hard-earned money you are saying, these are the values & ideals I live by & hold others to. Perhaps it is my years of working so hard to protect dog breeders rights that makes me so vehement but I find it reprehensible that anyone would feel that the life of an animal is equal to or as important as the life of a person.

Remember the next time you sign a check to these animal rights groups what their basic agenda is:

1. that no one own animals-they are our equals & therefore should roam free (look what is happening in Berkley,CA.
2. no one should eat meat or wear animal in any form-even wool
3. no hunting/fishing medical research, no zoos or circuses.

As dog owners we should support ADOA,The Animal Council, NAIA (National Animal Interest Alliance) & National Wildlife Legislative Fund of America. Now that you are aware of the players & are aware of the situation, get out there & fight for your rights to breed & own dogs-- before they are gone forever.
Bonnie Turner
NEAA Member
VP & Lobbyist, GCDC