The CCRW is an animal welfare website.

From Scott (Founder):

Since I started the Connecticut Cat Rescue Web, I have occasionally found this site listed in various web indices as an "animal rights" resource. I think it would be much more appropriate to characterize it as an "animal welfare" resource.

What is the difference?

The animal rights viewpoint holds that the rights of animals are equivalent to those of humans, and that any use or manipulation of non-human animals by humans is immoral. The extreme form of this view also holds that the use of violence against humans is justifiable to protect non-humans' rights.

The animal welfare viewpoint believes that the irresponsibility of humans that leads to suffering of animals should be eliminated, and that needlessly cruel treatment of non-human animals by humans is wrong. However, this view also believes that use of non-human animals by humans is often justified. Animals have rights, but they are not equivalent to those of humans.

I'm not going to go into all the reasons I support the animal welfare viewpoint rather than the animal rights viewpoint -- others have said it better than I probably could (see for example Erin Miller's description of her pet philosophy and the associated collection of links). Suffice it to say that the Connecticut Cat Rescue Web is dedicated to animal welfare. It exists to help ease the suffering of cats due, in many cases, to the irresponsibility of humans, and to hopefully educate people about the responsibilities of pet ownership. I hope those of you reading this who support the animal rights philosophy can agree to politely disagree with me where our viewpoints differ, and that we can work together to help animals where we concur.

Now that we've digressed a bit, you probably want to return to "about the CCRW" or the CCRW main page.

TO REQUEST UPDATES OR CORRECTIONS TO THE WEBSITE:

email catrescue@dreslough.com