Ingrid Newkirk Quotes

Ingrid Newkirk Quotes - Ingrid Newkirk is an English-born animal rights activist and author. She is the president and co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which is the world's largest animal rights organization. She is very outspoken and passionate in her support of animals. Some may not agree with her but none can disagree with the fact that she has great energy and passion as a spokesperson for animals and animals need someone like her to balance the world.

As perhaps the foremost speaker on animal rights, I would like to address some of Ingrid Newkirk Quotes. Here is one:

“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.” — The Harper's Forum Book, Jack Hitt, ed., 1989, p.223 (src: http://www.activistcash.com)

Looking at this particular Ingrid Newkirk quote in detail in relation to domestic cats:

I don’t use the word 'pet.' I think it’s speciesist language. I prefer 'companion animal. -- Who can criticize that? This thought has to be correct. The arrangement is mutually beneficial or, that, at least, is the intention. "Companion animal" implies equality and I always look upon the cats who live with me as companions and equals. It is the only way as it ensures that we treat our companion cats properly, which is beneficial to us anyway as the cat will reciprocate.

For one thing, we would no longer allow breeding. People could not create different breeds. -- I have argued that while there is a feral cat problem of substantial proportions it is difficult to justify cat breeding (The Cat should not be Domesticated). OK, cat breeders don't create the feral cat problem directly (it seems to me). It is the cat keepers who, acting irresponsibly, abandon cats and sow the seed for feral cat populations to grow. And importantly purebred cat breeders create relatively small numbers of cats in comparison to the numbers of mixed breed cats so they do not contribute to the feral cat problem. There are very, very few purebred feral cats. Yet, cat breeding, I hate to say, does not sit comfortably with the feral cat problem. Cat breeders, I am sure, realize this and they and their associations should, I argue, assist in resolving the problem rather than ignoring it, which is what seems to be happening. As to the desire to stop people creating different breeds, that, I can understand to.

There has been over the past 60 years or so an unregulated, unabashed, rush to produce another cat breed, a mixture of this established breed and that established breed or just some slightly weird hybrid (a created cat breed). The cat associations have, it seems, put a stop to this or at least resisted in the name of common sense and, indeed, health issues. But this desire has helped to create the kind of quote made by Ingrid Newkirk.

There would be no pet shops -- I think that this Ingrid Newkirk quote means no pet shops selling "animals". Pet shops could usefully sell items that are related to animal welfare for example.

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. -- This is an obvious extension of the idea of no breeders and the last phrase of this is Ingrid Newkirk quote is one I would disagree with. There probably is a place in the world for highly responsible cat breeding provided all the ground work is in place. After all we are humans, we need some entertainment and some latitude to do what comes naturally to us. We bring people into the world with gay abandon, without a thought in the world and no one but no one is thinking about how to stop that. What difference cats especially as we are equal to them or, at least, should be? I also disagree with he notion that the cat is better off in a relationship with us at a distance. Once again, I restate the fact that close symbiotic relationships are very common in the world and the domestication of the wild cat is one such example. It is a natural and mutually beneficial state of affairs. Indeed, when one thinks about it, it is a charming and beautiful relationship when it is managed properly and we are the ones that have to mange it.

The problem is that it got out of control because the stupid human was in charge of it. Better regulation or control over the keeping of companion animals would seem to be the only way forward if irresponsible people insist on behaving irresponsibly. And there lies the root of the problem. Governments need to do more to ensure that people are educated as education brings a more responsible approach to life.

Ingrid Newkirk Quotes to Cat Breeders and Animal Rights