Especially in this Internet age, routine practices are being exposed and rightly recognized as harsh and cruel.

We believe in the Three Rs - reducing the consumption of meat and other animal-based foods; refining the diet by eating products only from methods of production, transport, and slaughter that minimize pain and distress; and replacing meat and other animal-based foods in the diet with plant-based foods.

There are new ways of producing food, film, clothing, and research that steer clear of using animals. Some of those products are functionally equivalent or even superior to what we're used to. Now corporations, legislatures, and other institutions are responding, and supporting these shifts, so we're seeing seismic changes throughout society.

If I had my personal view, perhaps that might take hold. In fact, I don't want to see another dog or cat born.

Animals for the most part just need to be left alone.

The good news is we are seeing an incredible surge in non-animal technologies in laboratories. With researchers using stem cells, visually impaired people may one day have new corneas and lenses grown from their own cells. That is likely to be a more effective and cheaper approach than using animals.

We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding One generation and out. We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding.