Hi Rick, I sure AM GLAD you brought this point up again. I have over the years stressed our related shelter work was animal welfare in nature. That being said so many folks STILL ASSUME that we are AR activists. NOT SO. If anyone really does their homework and gets to the crux of animal rightist thinking they will find that in fact PETA would abolish all pet ownership. The ideal situation is that pets should live in the wild... so you know many animals will not survive in the wild say goodbye to a planet with those pets. PETA theorizes that animals should not work-- that in my mind slaps in the face of history where farmers loggers and the rest did successfully utilize these animals who are born to work... by eliminating these animals work you are putting an end to life as nature intended for them -- diminishing their health through lack of exercise and say goodbye to those animals. Certainly in many situations industry has made machines to do the work but continue to allow those who work the old trades with their creatures do so! Industry is not always the best of progress .... whatever happened to quality and pride in trades? IN A PERFECT WORLD I guess robots could take the place of loving warm blooded animals with souls, I have yet to find that likely to happen. Animals add quality to human existence, they teach us great lessons on unconditional love, trust, and require only food , shelter and respect in return. I DO STRONGLY feel we need to advocate for those domesticated animals whom are abused and neglected... BUT I do not think that people should lose the privilege of pet ownership, the right to be included in a human family as PETA, HSUS and others are now moving in the rightest front with guardianship laws. For those who have not done their homework in states like MD where the guardianship laws have been enacted-- people do not own their pets, they pay the costs to purchase etc., -- but now have the right to be supervised and governed by humane entities who can remove those pets under suspicion of neglect or abuse. Once that happens if the human wants to have the right to possess animals again they must hire legal representation and fight their case with all costs of care of the seized animals etc added. I HAVE seen these illegal seizures of animals occur in NH and New England states over the past few years in great numbers and even when the states animal staff orders return of the animals the shelters have refused.. taking thousands of dollars form the human victims in legal expense and still loosing the rights to their beloved pets. It is an eye-opener to see these actions come to fruition - seeing your rights stripped away for no mare than a phone call form an unidentified source. It happens in America and though we know merchandising pets is not perfect-- I am sure the retailers are dealing with A LOT of the same mindset. The really interesting thing is that we ( ferret community) will readily call PETA to claim action on behalf of the ferret-- without even realizing they do NOT advocate ferrets as pets.... Maybe a little more thought should be generated before picking up the phone to call that agency? In the eyes of PETA any animal that requires meat historically in their diet should be a wild animal and thus you can maybe see why getting ferrets removed from the wildlife rosters is not such an easy thing to do these days. This (AR) movement is a step in the wrong direction in my opinion -- taking the rights of competent and caring folks to possess their pets ( as they have been throughout the history of the US) because they might not - IN THE MINDS OF THE RIGHTEST provide the care required. If you look really deep this movement lies at the crux of the humane movement- they want the power to decide what, is a pet, who can have them and they will not let up until they have governing power over the animals and those who would enjoy the company of pets. Look at the mergers in the past of the Humane organizations.... Now The Fund for animals (CA) is about to merge with HSUS... and their philospohies are diverse . Each time a merger occurs it seems the AW folks get pushed into the back while control goes to the AR. Please take a few moments and find where you really stand. The animals and the rights of humans to possess them as family depend on it. Alicia Drakiotes pet owner, animal welfare advocate & shelter volunteer [Posted in FML issue 4661]