PETA Co-Founder Calls For Ban Of The Term ‘Pet’ Because Dogs And Cats Are ‘Equals’

People for the Ethical of Animals or PETA co-founder Ingrid Newkirk, 70 wants the word ‘pet’ ousted from the humane dictionary because it is 'derogatory' to the voiceless beings. The animal rights activist who founded the group with fellow activist Alex Pacheco says that calling animals 'pets' is just as condescending as calling a woman 'sweetie' or 'honey'.

"Animals are not pets - they are not your cheap burglar alarm, or something which allows you to go out for a walk. They are not ours as decorations or toys, they are living beings’’ Ingrid said.

Reinstating the previous calling by PETA that the term 'pet owner' should be changed to 'human carer' or 'guardian' instead, she continued: "A dog is a feeling, whole individual, with emotions and interests, not something you 'have'.

"How we say things governs how we think about them, so a tweak in our language when we talk about the animals in our homes is needed.

"A pet is a commodity but animals should not be things on shelves or in boxes, where people say, 'I like the look of that one, it matches my curtains or my sense of myself'. Hopefully the time is passing for that kind of attitude."

‘’Hopefully the time is passing for that kind of attitude.’

Academics have agreed that there needs to be a new ‘animal language’, while others advocate people shouldn’t keep pets at all.