Just as it appears that animal rights are more respected than ever - that fewer animals are subject to the whims, appetites and bloody amusement of humans - pet ownership is undergoing exponential growth.

With a scaling market for animal ownership in the home, we need to ask ourselves some tough questions around the impact of this burgeoning industry. What is its effect on the climate? What is its impact on the welfare of animals? 

In the past decades, pet ownership has risen dramatically. In the UK, 51% of adults now own pets, including 21 million dogs and cats. But pets are not just cute and cuddly, they are living animals with their own rights, freedoms and feelings. 

Despite the professed love that many pet owners feel for their animals, the ownership of pets is deeply concerning on moral, social and environmental grounds. Here’s some reasons why:

• The RSPCA receives a report of animal abuse every 30 seconds. 
• Pet ownership is 100% non-consensual
• Only half of animal in shelters are ever adopted
• The pet industry lobby is huge, doubling in size in the past 10 years.
• Pet food accounts for 25% of the US meat industry
• In the EU, pet feed takes up 20% of arable land
• Domestic cats kill 300 million small birds and mammals each year in the UK
• In San Francisco, 4% of landfill comprises hazardous and harmful pet faeces

This petition aims to address these issues. 

There exists a systemic issue around pet keeping. It is normalised, commodified and industrialised. There is no public debate on the ethics or impacts of pet-keeping that reaches any kind of depth. In movements that stand for animal rights, pets are largely left behind, assumed to be willing companions of humans, rather than living in artificial, unstimulating and unregulated private ownership.

We call on world leaders and animal rights organisations to address the following questions:

1. How can the rights of pets be protected?
2. What is the impact of pets on climate change?
3. What laws can protect animals following the rapid growth in the pet industry?

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR PETS AROUND THE WORLD, AND CALL ON ANIMALS RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS AND LEADERS TO UNDERSTAND HOW PETS CAN PLAY A SUSTAINABLE AND ETHICAL ROLE IN HUMAN SOCIETY.