What the Animal Rights People are Saying

"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," Spring 1997

"Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought about by human manipulation." Ingrid Newkirk, national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), Just Like Us? Harper's, August 1988, p. 50.

"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 Washington, DC: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, (PeTA), 1982, p. 15.

"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, national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), Chicago Daily Herald, March 1, 1990.

"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, Senior VP of Humane Society of the US, formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, Animal People, May, 1993

"Breeders must be eliminated! As long as there is a surplus of companion animals in the concentration camps referred to as "shelters", and they are killing them because they are homeless, one should not be allowed to produce more for their own amusement and profit. If you know of a breeder in the Los Angeles area, whether commercial or private, legal or illegal, let us know and we will post their name, location, phone number so people can write them letters telling them 'Don't Breed or Buy, While Others DIE.'" "Breeders! Let's get rid of them too!" Campaign on Animal Defense League's website, September 2, 2003.

"I'm not only uninterested in having children. I am opposed to having children. Having a purebred human baby is like having a purebred dog; it is nothing but vanity, human vanity." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's founder and president, New Yorker magazine, April 23, 2003

"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, founder, president and former national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), Animals, May/June 1993

"Six million people died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses." Ingrid Newkirk, founder, president and former national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, as quoted in Chip Brown, "She's A Portrait of Zealotry in Plastic Shoes," Washington Post, November 13, 1983, p. B10.

"We feel that animals have the same rights as retarded human child because they are equal mentally in terms of dependence on others." Alex Pacheco, Director, PETA, New York Times, January 14, 1989.

"The life of an ant and that of my child should be granted equal consideration." Michael W. Fox, Scientific Director and former Vice President, The Humane Society of the United States, The Inhumane Society, New York, 1990

"To those people who say, `My father is alive because of animal experimentation,' I say `Yeah, well, good for you. This dog died so your father could live.' Sorry, but I am just not behind that kind of trade off." Bill Maher, PETA celebrity spokesman

"Even if animal tests produced a cure [for AIDS], 'we'd be against it.'" --Ingrid Newkirk, national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), as quoted in Fred Barnes, "Politics," Vogue, September 1989, p. 542.

"Our goal is to get sport hunting in the same category as cock fighting and dog fighting." Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP Humane Society of the US (HSUS), formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, (Bozeman (MT) Daily Chronicle, October 8, 1991

"We are going to use the ballot box and the democratic process to stop all hunting in the United States ... We will take it species by species until all hunting is stopped in California. Then we will take it state by state. Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP Humane Society of the US (HSUS), formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, Full Cry Magazine, October 1, 1990.

"Eating meat is primitive, barbaric, and arrogant."Ingrid Newkirk, founder, president and former national director, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA), as quoted in Charles Griswold, Jr., "Q&A," Washington City Paper, December 20, 1985, p. 44.

"To give a child animal products is a form of child abuse." Neal Barnard, Medical Advisor, PETA, from Bernard's book, Food For Life

"Probably everything we do is a publicity stunt ... we are not here to gather members, to please, to placate, to make friends. We're here to hold the radical line." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's president and founder, USA Today, September 3, 1991

"Humane care (of animals) is simply sentimental, sympathetic patronage."Dr. Michael W. Fox, Humane Society of the US, in 1988 Newsweek interview

"We would be foolish and silly not to unite with people in the public health sector, the environmental community, [and] unions, to try to challenge corporate agriculture." Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP Humane Society of the US, formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, at the Animal Rights 2002" Convention, July 1, 2002.

"If we are not able to bring the churches, the synagogues, [and] the mosques around to the animal rights view, we will never make large-scale progress for animal rights in the United States." Norm Phelps, Program Director, Fund for Animals: "Animal Rights 2002" convention, July 2, 2002.

"We are not terrorists, but we are a threat. We are a threat both economically and philosophically. Our power is not in the right to vote but the power to stop production. We will break the law and destroy property until we win." Dr. Steven Best, speaking at International Animal Rights Gathering 2005. The Telegram (UK) July 17, 2005.

"Here's a little model I'm going to show you here. I didn't have any incense, but -- this is a crude incendiary device. It is a simple plastic jug, which you fill with gasoline and oil. You put in a sponge, which is soaked also in flammable liquid -- I couldn't find an incense stick, but this represents that. You put the incense stick in here, light it, place it -- underneath the 'weapon of mass destruction,' light the incense stick - sandalwood works nice -- and you destroy the profits that are brought about through animal and earth abuse. That's about -- two dollars. " Rodney Coronado, animal rights felon for the 1992 Michigan State University fireboming, and recipient of PeTA funds, speaking at "National conference on Organized Resistance, American University, Washington DC, January 26, 2003.

Note: Coronado pled guilty to the charges stemming from the 1992 MSU arson case but even so, PeTA donated $45,200 to the Coronado Support Committee in 1995. During the previous year, while Coronado was still on the loose and living underground, PeTA granted a loan (not yet repaid) to Coronado's father for $25,000.

"If someone is killing, on a regular basis, thousands of animals, and if that person can only be stopped in one way by the use of violence, then it is certainly a morally justifiable solution." Jerry Vlasak, spokesman for Animal Defense League, Penn & Teller Bullsh*t, April 1, 2004

"It is dangerous to engage in even the most innocuous-seeming discourse with the FBI/ Homeland Security/ a local detective." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's founder and president, Letter to activists posted on Yahoo, March 17, 2003

“There are about 2,000 people prepared at any one time to take action for us ... The children [of targeted scientists and executives] are enjoying a lifestyle built on the blood and abuse of innocent animals. Why should they be allowed to close the door on that and sit down and watch TV and enjoy themselves when animals are suffering and dying because of the actions of the family breadwinner? They are a justifiable target for protest.” Robin Webb, ALF leader, Sunday Herald ( Scotland) Sept. 19, 2004

"It won't ruin our movement if someone gets killed in an animal rights action. It's going to happen sooner or later. The Animal Liberation Front, the Earth Liberation Front -- sooner or later there's going to be someone getting hurt. And we have to accept that fact. It's going to happen. It's not going to hurt our movement. Our movement will go on. And it's important that we not let the bully pulpit of the FBI and the other oppression agencies stop us from what we're doing. They are the violent ones. They are the terrorists ... we have to keep doing what we're doing." Jerry Vlasak, PCRM spokesman and Director of ADL, speaking at the Animal Rights 2004 convention (July 8-11).

“"I don't think you'd have to kill -- assassinate -- too many ... I think for 5 lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save a million, 2 million, 10 million non-human lives." Jerry Vlasak, Animal Rights 2003 Convention, June, 2003

"Hit them in their personal lives, visit their homes . Actively target U.S. military establishments within the United States... strike hard and fast and retreat in anonymity. Select another location, strike again hard and fast and quickly retreat in anonymity ... Do not get caught. DO NOT GET CAUGHT. Do not get sent to jail. Stay alert, keep active, and keep fighting." Craig Rosenbraugh, radical animal rights spokesperson for terrorism and a recipient of PeTA funds, in Open letter to activists, published on the Independent Media Center website, March 17, 2003

"Arson, property destruction, burglary and theft are 'acceptable crimes' when used for the animal cause." Alex Pacheco, Director, PETA

"Property destruction is a legitimate political tool called economic sabotage, and it's meant to attack businesses and corporations." David Barbarash, Spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), NPR radio show, "The Connection" January 7, 2002

"Damaging the enemy financially is fair game." Alex Pacheco, animal rights radical, PeTA co-founder and one of its original 3 board members, Washington City Paper, December 18, 1987

"Our nonviolent tactics are not as effective. We ask nicely for years and get nothing. Someone makes a threat, and it works." Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA's founder and president, US News and World Report, April 8, 2002

" I openly hope that it [hoof-and-mouth disease] comes here. It will bring economic harm only for those who profit from giving people heart attacks and giving animals a concentration camp-like existence. It would be good for animals, good for human health and good for the environment. Ingrid Newkirk, PeTA founder and president, ABC News interview April 2, 2001

"We have found that civil disobedience and direct action has been powerful in generating massive attention in our communities ... and has been very effective in traumatizing our targets." JP Goodwin, Committee to Abolish the Fur Trade, National Animal Rights Convention '97, June 27, 1997, now employed by the Humane Society of the United States