“The truth is that nonhuman animals don’t need rights or legal standing Such rights have done little to improve the lives of the majority of the world’s people.”- Kelly Overton, Executive Director of People Protecting Animals & Their Habitats

Animals can have our rights when they form their own political action committee, hold a rally on Capitol Hill, and petition for them. Until that time comes, humans have made a conscious choice that we will assume varying degrees of responsibility towards the other species with which we share the planet.

Animal welfare advocates support responsible care of animals. They may endorse a reduce; refine, replace approach when applicable and they oppose neglect and overt cruelty. They should never, ever be confused with animal rights supporters. The two concepts are mutually exclusive.

"Not only are the philosophies of animal rights and animal welfare separated by irreconcilable differences... the enactment of animal welfare measures actually impedes the achievement of animal rights... 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,"

"I despise 'animal welfare.' That's like saying, 'Let's beat the slaves three times a week instead of five times a week'." Gary Yourofsky, spokesman, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PeTA

"Humane care (of animals) is simply sentimental, sympathetic patronage." Dr. Michael W. Fox, former vice president, Humane Society of the United States

Let’s get real. Human beings, with some aberrant exceptions, treat most other species better than those other species do. Often, we treat animals better than we treat some members of our own species! Granted, we do not treat mosquitoes with the same deference that we give to the family pet. All men may be created equal, but all species are not. Only a radical minority actually believe that:

“a rat, is a pig, is a dog, is a boy.” -Ingrid Newkirk, president, PeTA

Animals do not give each other “rights”, they do not share our morals. They assume the “right” to eat whomever or whatever they please, to fornicate at will to the point of force, to steal from each other, etc. Having rights is predicated on understanding the concept of rights, and non human animals simply have not evolved to that point .They probably never will - in my lifetime, or yours.

Can you imagine if humans had animal ethics? We would be living in anarchy. Truly only the fittest would survive. Not necessarily the most creative, or intellectual, or moral, or spiritual, but the fittest. Perhaps that is precisely what separates us as a species and contributes to our undisputed position at the top of the food chain. We have a different value system.

Even if animals could understand our rights, ethics and values, it would be supremely arrogant to assume they would prefer to live by them. However, I’m pretty sure many animals enjoy the benefits of its byproducts, hence, the process of domestication.

That’s not to say that we should treat animals without compassion. We absolutely should show respect for our fellow creatures, but we should not give them equal status in the legal system, in other words “animal rights” equality.

As ludicrous as it may seem, there is a growing movement of deluded extremists who believe that it is their higher calling to force the rest of society to cease all ownership and use of other species. “Total animal liberation.” They are cultists who eagerly await the rapture of the loveless, meatless, pet less apocalypse of mankind through starvation and pandemic disease. Thank dog that they are still a minority!

“There are 30-million plus species on this planet. They’re all earthlings. They’re all equal. Some are more “equal” than others, I admit: earthworms are far more valuable than people.”--“Animal Rights 2002” convention

"If you haven't given voluntary human extinction much thought before, the idea of a world with no people in it may seem strange. But, if you give it a chance, I think you might agree that the extinction of Homo Sapiens would mean survival for millions, if not billions, of Earth-dwelling species ... Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental."- "Les U. Knight" (pseudonym)

"While the death of young men in war is unfortunate, it is no more serious than the touching of mountains and wilderness areas by humankind." David Brower - Former Executive Director, Sierra Club

They may be filled with self loathing and a deep resentment of their own species, but they are not naive. Animal rights supporters are acutely aware that the public would never agree to policies that have the potential to threaten the very survival of our own species - in order to let the planet revert to wilderness habitat.

"Back to the Pleistocene!" --Earth First! slogan

Their leaders are clever and they are patient. Like a predator lying in wait, the animal rights movement supports the gradual chipping away of our rights as owners, while tirelessly working to elevate the legal status of animals. From restricting dietary choices to dangerous dog laws, they are crafting public policy at every level. There is even a MANUAL to train their disciples to “be power players who win strong laws for animals”.

Animal rights supporters equate pets to slavery, animal breeding to rape, and food animals to the Nazi Holocaust. They believe that all animals should live free and die young, as nature intended, suffering from parasites, hunger, disease, injury, illness and climate in the interim.

"The length of an animal's life cannot be equated with the quality of that life," she argued. "A human prisoner may live longer than the average life expectancy since a prisoner is not at risk of car accidents, etc. But few of us would choose to spend our lives in prison in the hope of extending our lives.-Lisa Wathne, from a letter on behalf of PeTA

“eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship enjoyment at a distance." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA

"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”

"We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding. . One generation and out. We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding." Wayne Pacelle, Humane Society of the United States-HSUS

"My goal is the abolition of all animal agriculture." JP Goodwin, campaign director, HSUS

Since animals cannot file lawsuits for the grievances and wrongdoings that may occur in their lives, animal rights groups want to sue you and me on behalf of the animals.

"We're looking for good lawsuits that will establish the interests of animals as a legitimate area of concern in law." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA

“In the mid-1980s Pace University School of Law invited attorney Jolene Marion to teach the first animal law class offered at any American law school. In 1990, I began teaching “Animal Rights Law” at Vermont Law School. By 2002, nearly twenty-five American law schools had offered, were offering, or were about to offer a course or seminar in animal rights law, including those at Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, UCLA, Boston College, Duke, [*PG624]Hastings, Northwestern, and the University of Michigan. In Europe, animal law courses are being, or have been, taught at the University of Aberdeen, University of East Anglia, John Moore’s University in Liverpool, Westminster University, the University of Utrecht, and the University of Vienna. In 2001, American television personality and animal rights activist, Bob Barker, established the Bob Barker Endowment Fund for the Study of Animal Rights at Harvard Law School.” Steven M. Wise - Rattling the Cage: Toward Legal Rights for Animals

They want police powers to enforce the laws that they themselves help to create. They want the ability to search and seize your property, to carry firearms, even the power to arrest you! The ASPCA, “America’s first humane society”, already has police powers in New York City, and its new agenda is being carefully packaged for mass consumption and public acceptance on the television network Animal Planet. Will Animal Cops be coming to your town next?

Because animals cannot read laws which are written for controlling human behavior, and cannot understand the legal consequences of their actions, they must not be given legal standing as a plaintiff. They cannot give sworn testimony. Animals have their own law, the law of nature. Animals do not care about due process or appeal. In nature, the judgment is swift and the ruling is always final.