When I first started research the animals rights issue I held the traditional assumption that animal welfarists were concerned with improving the lives of animals while animal rightists were concerned with "freeing" or "abolishing" domestic animals. The more I study, the more I disagree with this traditionally held assessment.
An editorial in Eagle Valley Colorado distinguishing between the two is getting lots of press, see one here in
Feedstuffs. This article, and many others written before it, portend that animal rights groups want to abolish the institution of pet ownership. Yet, I recently found out that
PETA offices are filled with pets that employees bring to work. Similarly,
PETA euthanizes thousands of cats and dogs because they feel it is the preferred alternative to having them suffer for years in a shelter, not because they
like killing pets. Besides, city governments routinely kill thousands of pets, but does that mean all city governments oppose pet ownership?
I am not a member of any of these groups. I only support them in this posting because, as a professor, the only thing I really do support is truth.
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