If anyone says they care about animals, honestly, how can they back that up when by purchasing meat for your consumption you are paying butchers for it.

When butchers know that they can make money they will buy in more meat from the factory farms.

When factory farms know they can make money out of selling meat to butchers then they will keep on killing more and more animals.

People say, 'It's already dead, I might as well eat it,' they pay for the meat and that money is paying people to kill more. If people stop buying meat then the factory farms don't get payed and they stop killing more and more animals.

Problem solved.

Argue with that.

I hope you will take this opportunity to explain what you see as the difference between animal rights and animal welfare. I do believe that we have an obligation to care for animals, whether they are our pets or not. I particularly think we have to care for them because, in the world we have created, they are often not able to care for themselves any more. We can't turn cats and dogs loose to fend for themselves in the wild. They depend on us to take care of them.

However, I don't think that they have the same rights that humans have. They can't make the same moral distinctions between right and wrong. Therefore, they need people to make decisions for them. And I think their role is to be pets and helpers. That has always been their role since they joined with humans and I think it has worked for animals and humans.

If you look at any serious writing about animal rights from the leaders of your movement, they all state that animals should not exist as pets. They think that being pets demeans them. They want animals to have their own rights, separate from people — even the right to be free. I'm sure you've seen the quotes from Ingrid Newkirk and Wayne Pacelle, among others.

So, if you think that not all believers in animal rights want to give up their pets, please go ahead and explain it. Isn't that really animal welfare?

Thank you for writing. I hope you will take this chance to write more and let us know what you think.

Carlotta

Second, it's important to know who this information is coming from. The Center for Consumer Freedom was founded with money from the tobacco industry to put a positive spin on smoking. (For more information, visit Source Watch.) When that failed, they turned their efforts to protecting the restaurant, alcohol, meat and dairy industries.

Their MO is to try to discredit any group that opposes them. For this reason, the CCF has spewed propaganda about Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

While you may dislike Peta — and I know many people do — please realize that not all animal-rights groups are alike. Many, like Vegan Outreach and Farm Sanctuary, seek to protect animals from suffering through less-outrageous tactics than Peta does.

Also, please realize that not all animal-rights supporters want to do away with pets. I, for one, love my dog, and I foster for a dog rescue organization. I would never want to live without a pet. And many, many animal-rights supporters feel the same way.

I'd like for animal-welfare advocates and animal-rights advocates to come together. After all, we all care about animals.