If you asked your pet how it feels about being called a pet, chances are you wouldn't receive much of a response.
That didn't stop Jennifer White, senior media officer at PETA, from telling Good Morning Britain that the term "pet" is derogatory toward animals and that people should opt for phrases like "companion" instead.
"We don't hate the word 'pet'—we're encouraging people to use something better, like 'companion,'" White said.
"A lot of people at home who have dogs or cats will call them pets and refer to themselves as owners and this implies that the animals are a possession, like a car for example,” she told an incredulous Piers Morgan. "When you refer to animals not as the living beings they are but as an inanimate object, it can reflect our treatment of these animals."
White isn't the first person to make this suggestion. Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, previously said a pet is a "whole individual, with emotions and interests."
"Animals are not pets—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,” the activist told the Daily Mail.
People on Twitter didn't take too kindly to PETA's suggestion, opting to joke about it instead:
