October 6, 2007
Everyone should notice that Pit bulldogs are just their first (easiest) step towards their true ultimate goal of forbidding/eliminating all animal/pet ownership/use. Goodwin used to lead an anti-fur group but those folks have money and are organized with trade associations and such, so he's moved on to what he must see as an easier target. Also, it looks to me in reading Newkirk's comments that she had some personal incident with some dog she identifies as a "pit". Her uneducated language makes me question both the probability of her correctly identifying such a dog and the veracity of her story even if she might know the difference. It also looks to me like if this is true, she has some sort of personal vendetta against our dogs. I really wonder if caring pet owners realize that when they donate money to these groups their ultimate goal is the abolition of them being allowed to even keep a pet.
‘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, President, PETA, ‘Animals,‘ May/June 1993‘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, President, PETA, Chicago Daily Herald, March 1, 1990‘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.‘
-Ingrid Newkirk, PETA vice-president, quoted in The Harper’s Forum Book, Jack Hitt, ed., 1989, p.223‘I have scars on my leg and arm from my own encounter with a pit. Many are loving and will kiss on sight, but many are unpredictable. An unpredictable Chihuahua is one thing, an unpredictable pit another. People who genuinely care about dogs won’t be affected by a ban on pit-bull breeding. They can go to the shelter and save one of the countless other breeds and lovable mutts sitting on death row. We can only stop killing pits if we stop creating new ones.‘
-Ingrid Newkirk‘Liberating our language by eliminating the word ‘˜pet’ is the first step ‘¦ In an ideal society where all exploitation and oppression has been eliminated, it will be NJARA’s policy to oppose the keeping of animals as ‘˜pets.’‘
-New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, ‘Should Dogs Be Kept As Pets? NO!‘ Good Dog! February 1991, p.20‘If the death of one rat cured all diseases, it wouldn’t make any difference to me.‘
-Chris De Rose, Director, Last Chance for Animals‘Arson, property destruction, burglary and theft are ‘˜acceptable crimes’ when used for the animal cause.‘
-Alex Pacheco, Director, PETA‘We have found that civil disobedience and direction action has been powerful in generating massive attention in our communities ‘¦ and has been very effective in traumatizing our targets.‘
-J.P. Goodwin, Committee to Abolish the Fur Trade, National Animal Rights Convention ‘˜97, June 27, 1997‘As an activist, I am a spokesperson for other animal issues. I am a strict vegan. But my focus is on the fur trade because I feel it's important that we try and take them [the fur industry] out and not let them get back up on their feet. If we have a chance to stop the killing of fur animals, it would create a lot of momentum for the animal rights movement.‘
-John "JP" Goodwin, November 1997
(I added the emphasis.)