WE SHOULD no longer call our animals ‘pets’, says the founder of animal activist organisation PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), because it suggests they are a “commodity”.

Ingrid Newkirk said: "How we say things governs how we think about them, so a tweak in our language when we talk about the animals in our homes is needed.

“A dog is a feeling, whole individual, with emotions and interests, not something you ‘have’.

"Animals are not pets.

“A pet is a commodity, but animals should not be things on shelves or in boxes, where people say, 'I like the look of that one, it matches my curtains or my sense of myself.’

“They are not your cheap burglar alarm, or something which allows you to go out for a walk.

“They are not ours as decorations or toys, they are living beings."

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And today Jennifer White, a senior media officer at PETA, went on Good Morning Britain to discuss their statement.

She said: “A lot of people at home who have dogs and cats refer to them as pets and they refer to themselves as owners, and this implies that the animals are a possession.”

Ms White said people should use the word “companion”, instead.

To which Piers Morgan, in his usual bellicose manner, responded: “Oh for God’s sake, you don’t even believe this guff."

Referring to the ‘pet’ in PETA, he also asked: “Ok, well let me ask you, what are you changing the name of the organisation to?”

Ms White said: “It’s an acronym.”