Does peta really hate pets?

Question

I was reading an article and it said " PETA president and co-founder Ingrid Newkirk has described her group’s overall goal as “total animal liberation.” This means the complete abolition of meat, milk, cheese, eggs, honey, zoos, aquariums, circuses, wool, leather, fur, silk, hunting, fishing, and pet ownership."

So pets are a no no? I mean, dogs and cats are almost completely domesticated, so is any animal bourn in captivity and if they were just tossed back into the wild they would die. Does peta really have issues with pets?

Answer 1

PETA opposes domestication. So do I. That's about the extent of our agreement on issues.



PETA has a record of killing the animals they're supposed to be helping, such as at their Virginia shelter, where their kill rate is apparently 97% (higher than even most of the worst municipal animal control departments).



PETA workers have been convicted of crimes, including two who claimed to be taking needy animals in order to find them good homes, only to kill them in the back of their van shortly thereafter, and dumped the bodies in a dumpster. (I believe it was a Walmart dumpster.)



PETA supports breed-specific legislation (where dogs are killed or cruelly restricted) based on inexpert opinion about their head shapes, coat lengths, etc. (Every reputable canine training, behavior, genetics, and veterinary expert supports holding dog owners accountable when they fail to properly train and supervise their dogs, regardless of what their hapless dogs may look like.) Ingrid Newkirk, PETA's president, has openly admitted to hating 'pit bulls' and advocating for their extermination.



I oppose domestication, captivity, cruelty, and factory farming. I would prefer that all creatures were born with the full complement of instincts they were meant to have; that they had skilled parents who could teach them how to be successful in their natural environment; and that all animals were free to live the autonomous lives nature and evolution intended.



Domestic animals have been selectively bred by humans to the point they're crimes against nature.



Domestic sheep CAN'T shed their wool, like their ancestors could. Although mulesing isn't standard practice, it is barbaric, and only serves as an attempt to solve a human-made problem created by selectively breeding sheep that don't shed.



Unlike their auorch ancestors, domestic dairy cows produce grotesque amounts of milk and must be milked several times a day while lactating (and, thus, are usually not allowed to graze at-pasture, as that is impractical for multilple daily milking sessions). The milking machines, themselves, often lead to infections.



Dairy calves (the male offspring) that result from the near-constant pregnancies necessary for dairy cows to be profitable for the farmer, have little use in the dairy industry, so the veal industry was born (where calves are killed by 6 months of age, after having lived their entire lives nearly imobilized and often in complete darkness, to ensure their muscles can't develop before slaughter). (It's the pale, pink, underdeveloped muscle tissue that is so prized by veal consumers.)



Domestic egg-laying chickens have been selectively bred to produce large quantities of unfertilized eggs. Battery egg farms keep chickens in horrific conditions. So-called "free run" chickens are often debeaked, and most still live in barns kept in darkness most of the time. "Free run" does not necessarily mean the chickens are out in the sun eating bugs and enjoying their lives. Death from overcrowding and disease is common in those dark, filthy, "free run" barns.



Meat chickens have been selectively bred to reach slaughter weight by 6 months of age. They've been so grotesquely over-bred, they often can't support their own weight by six months of age, when they're killed. Chickens can live to be 10-15 years-old in more natural circumstances.



Beef cattle have been selectively bred so they reach slaughter weight by about 9-12 months of age. Cattle can live 30-50 years in more natural circumstances. Most beef cattle spend at least part of their extremely short lives in high-density feed lots where they stand in mud and their own feces, in overcrowded conditions. Because of this, they have to be pumped full of antibiotics, to prevent widespread disease. ...Killed as babies, though.



That doesn't even begin to address abuses in those facilities. Those are just the abuses of domestication and captivity.



If it wouldn't be okay to keep your child or your dog in those conditions, then it isn't okay for other living beings. Pigs and horses are said to have the mental capacity of a 3-5-year-old child. Dogs and cows are said to have the mental capacity of a 2-3-year-old child. Even chickens can learn to perform various behaviors. All of them can feel pain, lonliness, stress, and terror.



In opposing domestication, if all use of domestic animals was halted tomorrow, I would support efforts to ethically care for those animals for the rest of their natural lives, until the last domesticated animal died out. PETA would likely kill all domestic animals immediately. I get the distinct impression that PETA (and/or its individual members) believe that death is better than life, if you're a captive animal (with their shelter kill rate as evidence). I don't agree. I believe that a responsible, ethical home is owed to all domestic animals. It is our (human) failure when any domestic animal is forced to live in cruel, neglectful, or markedly unnatural conditions.



PETA kills A LOT of animals every year (mostly domesticated animals). They kill nearly all the animals they take into their Virginia "shelter" under the guise of helping them. Death is not help. Dumping dead animals' bodies in a store's dumpster is far from "ethical treatment". (Thankfully, the PETA employees involved were convicted of that crime.)

Answer 2

On the website is says they wish pets were never invented. They don't want to take pets and put them in the wild but for people to spay and neuter and to get their pets from a shelter. I read how they don't want there to be "class pets" because some are tortured by the students. I can see that they are to the extreme about animals but it makes sense because they are trying to speak to the majority of the public, who don't know about what goes on with the exploitation and abuse of animals. The average person doesn't seem to bat an eyelash at a chained dog. People like to use the phrase "oh, their fine" but the animals cant tell us. Its sad really good pet owners are a small small minority.

Answer 3

I really love PETA and all that they stand for. However there's a few things PETA does that I don't agree with. One of them is to get rid of pet ownership.



Don't get me wrong. Certain animals need to be out in the wild. But I feel as if other certain animals would---for the most part---have trouble living life in the wild as well.



Besides, pets such as dogs and cats love being in homes. I consider my pets to be members of the family. Sappy as it sounds, we're all real close. My dog won't go to anyone else but me.





BTW: If you think that's f*cked up, have you heard about PETA adopting animals from the pound and putting them to sleep just because they were 'domesticated'????

Answer 4

Peta is really extreme and i don't agree with them on the pet stance.obviously it's wrong to take an undomesticated animal out of it's natural environment so you can call it your (like a lion or something in your house) but a domestic companion, like a dog? some animals really like there 'owner' (cause lets face it, some animals really run the show if their owners love them, like paranormal kitty said.) and there have been many stories of a dog or cat saving their owners lives by waking them up during a house fire or trying to warn them of an upcoming heart attack.



to Alice:

did you know that the sheep we get are wool from are bred not to shed and are often cut in the fast process and undergo a process called Australian ranchers perform a barbaric operation-called mulesing? "mulesing"-where they force live sheep onto their backs, restrain their legs between metal bars, and, without any painkillers whatsoever, slice chunks of flesh from around their tail area. This is done to cause smooth, scarred skin that can't harbor fly eggs. Ironically, the exposed, bloody wounds themselves often get flystrike before they heal.



Chickens are kept on cages so small that peck at each other harming one another and causing infections? in order to combat this chicks beaks are seared off without any painkillers.



Cows produce milk for their babies, which are taken away for veal days after they are born? they are also kept pregnant and live in horrible conditions until they die at a fifth of there lifespan.

Answer 5

Most of PETA's objections to the pet INDUSTRY are also voiced by the Humane Society and the ASPCA: overbreeding in horriffic conditions, people paying hundreds of dollars for "designer" dogs while thousands die in shelters, a complete lack of consequences for animal abuse by their owners, etc.



I'm a PETA member, and am "mommy" to several pets. Rather than wishing for a world where animals were never exploited by humans, I think we should deal with the one we have, and rescue as many as possible.

Answer 6

PETA has an issue with everything.



Did you know eggs are a waste product of chickens? Its much like a human period.



Did you know obtaining wool doesn't hurt the animal at all? In fact it can be beneficial. Also all organic mattresses MUST have a flame retardant of some sort, and their answer is wool.



Did you know milking a domestic cow is also beneficial to it? I do not agree with constant pumping of milk but a lot of local farmers pump hormone free which helps prevent utters from swelling.



PETA is the same group that was charged for leaving bags of dead bodies on the highway. Does that sound like love?



And yes most pets are a no no.



I am a bad person because my rats are in an extremely large cage with hammocks and fed fresh food every day. My dogs are well fed with nice soft beds. Hmm....



Most animals (including "wild" horses like mustangs) can survive in the wild after a while but are destructive to the natural environment.

Answer 7

peta can hate about anything. they go overboard and too far out. i am on the fence with peta i guess. "I love the cause but not the act" (quoted from christofer drews new song). i love what peta stands for , and their intensions are good, but i dont love how they go about adressing the problem. i myself own three dogs who have shelter, several warm beds (including mine), fresh food that is prepared for them, and new water every hour or so. i also own a quaker parrot who, even though it belongs to my brother, that has taken a liking to me. i play with him every day and make sure he has fresh food and water.



so i dont get it with peta and the pet thing. but i know my pets are well taken care of and are loved extream amounts.

Answer 8

Every year, 10-mil animals end up in shelters b/c of irresponsible owners who either don't want to vet them or want 2 get rid of them for what ever reason or they r rescued from abusive owners... That's what PETA is against... irresponsible owners

Answer 9

I think PETA has good intentions. I think, however, they go overboard in some regards. I think they love pets because they couldn't exist without some pet owners' contributions.

Answer 10

Do cats count as pet ownership? Because they own you, not the other way around.

Answer 11

I believe they consider pet ownership "enslavement."

Answer 12

i think they are a bunch of nuts i wood not give them the time of day let alone money you who who who who

Answer 13

PETA hates just about anything. Heck, they criticized President Obama for killing a fly.

So eat meat to protest against them.



Most cults use vegetarianism to help create a chemical imbalance in people's brains that makes them easier to "brainwash". You need the proteins in meats to help your brain cells work properly.

Answer 14

peta is there to help keeps pets safe