“I don’t use the word 'pet.' I think it’s speciesist language. I prefer 'companion animal.”

For one thing, we would no longer allow breeding. People could not create different breeds. There would be no pet shops. If people had companion animals in their homes, those animals would have to be refugees from the animal shelters and the streets. You would have a protective relationship with them just as you would with an orphaned child. But as the surplus of cats and dogs (artificially engineered by centuries of forced breeding) declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship — enjoyment at a distance.
The Harper's Forum Book, Jack Hitt, ed., 1989, p. 223.
1980s