If you think that a dog’s owner shouldn’t be allowed to beat it for fun, you might think you support animal rights. But Wesley Smith, the author of The War on Humans wants us to understand that as a stand for animals’ welfare. Why the different word choice, and why does it matter?

It’s because those making the loudest call for animal rights are also those who have the least interest in animal welfare. As Smith explains:

Advocates of animal rights ideology seek to end all domestication of animals. Advocates of animal welfare, on the other hand, seek to create ever-improving standards of animal husbandry.

Christians know we have been put in charge of the animals – we are stewards of creation, and animals, even the wild ones, are ours to be managed and cared for. But animal rightists want us to think of animals not as objects of care, but as our moral equivalents. As Ingrid Newkirk (one of the founders of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) put it: “When it comes to pain, love, joy, loneliness, and fear, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.” No Ms. Newkirk: while a lonely boy is a sad situation, a lonely rat is often a cause for celebration, as rats without playmates cannot beget more rats!

As Smith concludes:

You may think you are for animal rights when you are really for animal welfare. It is time to use the correct terminology so that “animal rights” becomes a scorned and shunned movement.

This post first appeared in the Oct 2015 issue.