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A sizable percentage of stray animals in shelters don't end up getting "rescued by a family in a traditional home with children that will play with them." According to the ASPCA, approximately a third of shelter animals are euthanized instead of adopted.

Please get your dog ready, we are coming to take possession due to cruelty.

The ASPCA
https://www.aspca.org/

Maybe the pigs wouldn't be getting the diseases in the first place if they weren't kept cheek-by-jowl in their own filth, in pens where they can't even turn around.

But have no fear, now that there are laws against taking pictures of factory pig farms and the horrific conditions the animals are kept in even from public property, we're all going to be more safe because of genetic engineering.

http://www.greenisthenewred.co...

https://www.aspca.org/animal-c...

You realize that pigs are rather cruel mean and violent creatures? try talking to folks that work on pig farms, in the good old days before "industrial" farming one of the daily chores was to count the pigs in each open pen. The reason you had to count was because the pigs would constantly nip and bite each other if they sensed any weakness, and if they ever broke skin they could and would eat an entire pig in a day. A large part of the 'cruel' conditions pigs are kept in today revolve around things like keeping them from killing each other.

Of course, I guess you can't blame them too much, they are made of bacon.

Maybe the pigs wouldn't be getting the diseases in the first place if they weren't kept cheek-by-jowl in their own filth, in pens where they can't even turn around.

But have no fear, now that there are laws against taking pictures of factory pig farms and the horrific conditions the animals are kept in even from public property, we're all going to be more safe because of genetic engineering.

http://www.greenisthenewred.co...

https://www.aspca.org/animal-c...

It gets better: rennet, the enzyme used to make cheese, is extracted from these slaughtered calves' stomachs. So if you're against the production of milk due to it causing the slaughter of newborn bovine then stop eating cheese, too. I'll assume that if you're the type to do this, though, that you've already avoided veal on principle.

As for me, I drink milk, I eat cheese, and I avoid veal only because it costs too much. I'm fine with "exploiting" cows for their milk, and insemination to encourage lactation is good animal husbandry. Good tasting meat and well cultured cheese being a byproduct is a benefit in my opinion, not a fault. As long as the animals aren't treated cruelly during life I don't have an ethical or moral objection to the practice. Feel free to join PETA if you disagree, just don't be surprised if I stand with the farmers when you come to "liberate" their livestock.

Unfortunately, the nursery I was at was staffed by summer students. At best I got an older woman who told me, she has these 2 and her cat is fine (even though one was actually poisonous to cats). Luckily, the ASPCA provides a great web site where I found this info out in a quick second or 2: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/plants/

That's one thing I've never understood. What exactly is wrong with an animal having a caring owner, someone to trust to, a warm home, no need to be afraid of predators, and not having to get cold and sometimes go days without food?

Animal-rights people don't understand computer stuff, computer geeks don't understand animal rights, and both are high-and-mighty about their ignorance. What a shock.

Go volunteer at an animal shelter sometime. The good, no-kill shelters try hard to only adopt out animals to good homes like yours and yet they still have their share of horror stories. Last-chance shelters like Animal Care and Control (ACC) in the U.S. are much, much worse. Ever hear a "heartwarming" story about some abused animal who was rescued (e.g. Michael Vick's fighting dogs)? Remember that the animal spent much of its life in an abuse situation in the first place.

Not every pet owner is so nice. Some are truly nasty. There are folks who kidnap pets (or take "free" pets advertised on Craigslist) and then sell them to animal testing labs. Then there are puppy mills. Go read up on them. Others just think of their pets as a commodity. If little Billy wants a dog they'll give him one, and then dump that dog at the local shelter when Billy gets tired of him (see also rabbits and chicks at Easter, black cats at Halloween). That attitude is painfully common. The point is that in the real world, not everyone is so nice to their pets.

Knowing this, the PETA attitude of "gee, people are really fucking this thing up, maybe we should stop messing with it" doesn't seem so crazy to me. While living in the "wild" may not be as comfortable as living in someone's house, animals which were never pets can definitely handle it. That's actually what they've evolved to do, remember. Go read up on TNR. Letting outdoor animals live out their lives outdoors rather than trying to round them up is currently considered to be the best and most moral way to deal with animal overpopulation in urban areas. Animals are quite capable of living outdoors. Yes, even cats and dogs.

The point is, "let wild animals be wild" is not an insane philosophy, folks. Whether or not you agree with it, you should be able to understand it.

Disclaimer: I do not work with PETA and am not affiliated with them in any way. I just volunteer at a local no-kill shelter, and have volunteered at other no-kill shelters in the past.

No, just that that approach has been tried before and has failed. As I said the thing that works best is neutering. Look up info on it yourself if you don't care to believe me. Here is a start. Unless you are just one of those type who hates cats, and will look for any reason to get rid of them, TNR makes the most sense becasue it is the cheapest and most effective way to deal with feral cat populations. The numbers from the studies done on other feral cat populations don't lie.

Anybody who has an ounce of sense should see what PeTA realy is and stands for.
If you want to be a voice for animals, there's the ASPCA.
If you like wild animals, there's the NWF.
Other than that, the rest are false charities.
And yes, the Humane Society is a front for PeTA, just a bunch of wackos without common sense.

I just watched the video and it looks like the Octopus was checking what the heck this thing was doing in his environment. Once he/she approached the ROV, the guy operating it revved the motors and sprayed debris at the unsuspecting Octopus. How do we really know this isn't so some sort of sick and twisted oceanographer that gets his kicks off luring unsuspecting cephalopods into the ROV engine's thrusts? Sure he says that his little submarine was getting attacked but my guess this isn't the first time he has fucked with invertebrate mammals. I think there is more here than meets the eye. Where is ASPCA?

Comment was a dig at PeTA. PeTA hates humans.
http://www.stopanimaltests.com/

If you want to be an animal rights activist, there is the legitimate organization called the ASPCA http://www.aspca.org/
They have been around for over 130 years.

PeTA is a bunch of wackjob veggie hippies that hates humans and are considered terrorists.
http://www.naiaonline.org/body/articles/archives/c a_arson_terrorist(8-7-03).htm/
http://www.activistcash.com/organization_overview. cfm/oid/21/

Who cares what PeTA thinks anyway. They're not the de-facto animal rights saviours although the media might want you to think otherwise which is what they want - exposure. They're more like terrorists and an organized crime ring. The fact that they hire known felons and arsonists to destroy businesses should be a clue that they're not on the up and up.
The ASPCA is the organization that actually cares about the well being of animals.
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer

• The ACLU Foundation is the arm of the American Civil Liberties Union that conducts its litigation and communication efforts. ACLU Foundation is tax-deductible, but the ACLU is NOT tax-deductible.
  
  
• The American Red Cross offers domestic disaster relief; community services that help the needy; support and comfort for military members and their families; the collection, processing and distribution of lifesaving blood and blood products; educational programs that promote health and safety; and international relief and development programs.
  
  
• The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) provides effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals through national programs in humane education, public awareness, government advocacy, shelter support, and animal medical services and placement.
  
  
• Amnesty International undertakes research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination.
  
  
• The Cato Institute seeks to broaden public policy debate to include the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and peace.
  
  
• The Electronic Frontier Foundation works to protect fundamental rights regardless of technology; to educate the press, policymakers and the general public about civil liberties issues related to technology; and to act as a defender of those liberties.
  
  
• The Nature Conservancy preserves the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive through land acquisition and conservation easements.
  
  
• The Rainforest Action Network campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants, and the natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global marketplace through grassroots organizing, education, and non-violent direct action.
  
  
• Trickle Up helps the lowest income people worldwide take the first step up out of poverty, by providing conditional seed capital and business training essential to the launch of a microenterprise.
  

So if I catch someone recharging a half discharged battery do I report them?

I have two cats of my own. I also have had to take litters of strays down to the SPCA, hoping others could adopt them. Please, it really would make the world a better place if just a few more people would be responsible pet owners.