Author, Elizabeth Brinkley

By Elizabeth Brinkley

There are many myths perpetuated by the animal rights extremists over the past 30 years that have become accepted by the public. The general public doesn’t look beyond the surface or think outside the small box of information they are given. The AR groups are experts at appealing to emotions about animals and the use of incrementalism. They will push for a large step and “settle” for a smaller one as a compromise, when they have every intention of coming back for more. You should also be aware it is not a “compromise” when only one side is actually giving up anything.

One of the sneaky tricks pushed by ARs and used by corporations is the “cruelty-free” or vegan products. It is Federal law that all chemicals used on or ingested by humans must be tested on animals first. Computers are light years away from being able to replicate a living cell let alone the myriad of possible variations among cells. Until we can safely test with machines, we have to use animals. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want the first use of a shampoo or a medicine on a living organism to be my grandchildren or yours. Labs testing products do NOT torture animals. If you have never visited a lab with test animals, you do not have enough first hand information to offer an opinion on the use of animals in labs. Most lab techs take excellent care of the animals in their charge. The exceptions are what the ARs use to smear all labs. Lab animals receive excellent care because any abuse of the animal would invalidate the scientific study and waste millions of dollars and the time of those working on the project. And the people who care for the animals are not monsters who torture animals.

So how do companies get away with claiming their product is vegan or “cruelty free”? Very simple – they LIE. The company buys the chemicals for their products from companies who have already done the testing. The company can then claim they haven’t done any animal testing. But the chemicals have been tested on animals before they purchased them – so a lie, a small lie, a little white lie but I am not willing to trust my health or that of my family to a company who is willing to LIE to boost their sales.

And while we are on the subject of lies – stealing dogs for labs is an AR fantasy. Labs have to meet very strict federal guidelines for test animals. The animals have to be carefully controlled and from known backgrounds. They do not just randomly buy dogs off the street. Dogs are not stolen for lab testing.

Next up is the myth of abuse of farm animals and performing animals. Again – fantasy invented by the ARs to justify their vendetta against farmers and rodeos and circuses. An abused dairy cow is NOT going to produce an optimum amount of milk. A two ton elephant cannot be “forced” to perform with the use of a two foot stick. Free range chickens are coyote bait, eat bacteria and even cannibalize other chickens. They are safer in commercial operations if kept in cages. But the ARs work very hard to make it all appear evil and cruel. A bucking bull in a rodeo works for 10 seconds once a week and receives the best of vet care and feed to keep them healthy. An injured bull can’t work and the owner loses money. You do not do harm to animals that will earn you a living or you won’t earn a living. Most people who work with animals do so because they LOVE animals and if you think it is easy work, you have never done it.

Another AR myth and probably one of the biggest is “adopt don’t shop”. The word “puppymill” was invented by the AR groups in order to denigrate ALL breeders. 30 years ago, breed clubs took responsibility for their breeds and “re-homed” dogs found in shelters or abandoned by owners. It was considered the right thing to do – no big hoorah about “rescue” and “adoption”. Breeders invented “rescue” but we didn’t need the drama. We don’t “adopt” dogs. Dogs are legally property and we want to keep it that way in order to protect our rights to own dogs. Adoption is for CHILDREN. There are laws relating to the adoption of children. If you go to a shelter and pay money for a dog you purchased a dog. You did not adopt an animal. Furchild, furbaby, treating dogs as child substitutes are all creations of the animal rights propaganda machine. And when you use that language you are propagating the lies that will take away the rights of dog owners. Have you ever noticed that those using the words “pet overpopulation”, rescue, adopt, and puppymill are the ones who make money from the sale of dogs? Take a long look at those who spout these words.

The ultimate goal of animal “rights” is not the welfare of animals. They have openly stated in their own publications that the goal is to end all animal ownership. Below is a list of the 12 steps of the animal rights groups. Read them closely and you will be horrified at how many of them are on track to be carried out. Read number 10 very carefully if you breed dogs. Many of the others are well on the way to be carrying out their plans. We need to step forward and help educate the public about the many ways they are being played by those who would take animals from us.

The 12 Steps of the Animal Rights Agenda

The animal rights platform sets the goals for ending the use of animals: The animal rights agenda was published in Animals’ Agenda magazine in November 1987 and reprinted in The Hijacking of the Humane Movement by Rod and Patti Strand.


1.     We are firmly committed to the eventual abolition by law of animal research, and call for an immediate prohibition of painful experiments and tests. The billions of dollars disbursed annually by the National Institutes of Health for animal experiments should be rechanneled into direct health care, preventive medicine, and biomedical research using non-animal tests and procedures. In addition, the government should fund projects to develop and promote non-animal technologies where they do not yet exist so that animal experiments may be rapidly phased out. In the meantime, procedural mechanisms must be established to allow for greater public scrutiny of all research using animals.


2.     The use of animals for cosmetics and household product testing, tobacco and alcohol testing, psychological testing, classroom demonstrations and dissection, and in weapons development or other warfare programs must be outlawed immediately.


3.     We encourage vegetarianism for ethical, ecological, and health reasons.  As conversion of plant protein to animal flesh for human consumption is an energetically inefficient means of food production, a vegetarian diet allows for wiser use of the world’s limited food resources. Livestock production is a major source of environmental degradation. Furthermore, a shift in human diet from animal foods to plant food would result in a lower incidence of heart diseases and cancer and better health generally. Vegetarian meals should be made available to all public institutions including primary and secondary schools.  Nutritional education programs currently administered by the Department of Agriculture should be handled by an agency charged with promoting public health rather than promoting the interest of agribusiness.


4.     Steps should be taken to begin phasing out intensive confinement systems of livestock production, also called factory farming, which causes severe physical and psychological suffering for the animals kept in overcrowded and unnatural conditions. As animal agriculture depletes and pollutes water and soil resources, and destroys forests and other ecosystems, we call for the eventual elimination of animal agriculture. In the meantime, the exportation of live farm animals for overseas slaughter must be regulated to ensure humane treatment.  Livestock grazing on US public lands should be immediately prohibited.  Internationally, the US should assist poorer countries in the development of locally-based, self-reliant agricultural systems.


5.     The use of herbicides, pesticides, and other toxic agricultural chemicals should be phased out. Predator control on public lands should be immediately outlawed and steps should be taken to introduce native predators to areas from which they have been eradicated in order to restore the balance of nature.


6.     Responsibility for enforcement of animal welfare legislation must be transferred from the Department of Agriculture to an agency created for the purpose of protecting animals and the environment.


7.     Commercial trapping and fur ranching should be eliminated. We call for an end to the use of furs while recognizing Western society’s responsibility to support alternative livelihood for native peoples who now rely on trapping because of the colonial European and North American fur industries.


8.     Hunting, trapping, and fishing for sport should be prohibited. State and federal agencies should focus on preserving and re-establishing habitat for wild animals instead of practicing game species management for maximum sustainable yield. Where possible, native species, including predators, should be reintroduced to areas from which they have been eradicated. Protection of native animals and plants in their natural surroundings must be given priority over
economic development plans. Further, drainage of wetlands and development of shore areas must be stopped immediately.


9.     Internationally, steps should be taken by the US government to prevent further destruction of rain forests. Additionally, we call on the US government to act aggressively to end international trade in wildlife and goods produced from exotic an/or endangered fauna or flora.


10.   We strongly discourage any further breeding of companion animals, including pedigreed or purebred dogs and cats. Spay and neuter clinics should be subsidized by state and municipal governments. Commerce in domestic and exotic animals for the pet trade should be abolished.


11.   We call for an end to the use of animals in entertainment and sports such  as dog racing, dog and cock fighting, fox hunting, hare coursing, rodeos,  circuses, and other spectacles and a critical reappraisal of the use of animals  in quasi-educational institutions such as zoos and aquariums. These institutions, guided not by humane concerns but by market imperatives, often
cruelly treat animals and act as agents of destruction for wild animals. In general, we believe that animals should be left in their appropriate environments in the wild, not showcased for entertainment purposes. Any animals held captive must have their psychological, behavioral, and social needs satisfied.


12.   Advances in biotechnology are posing a threat to the integrity of species, which may ultimately reduce all living beings to the level of patentable commodities. Genetic manipulation of species to produce transgenic animals must be prohibited.