Once again Lief has tried to turn the argument into an ad hominem
attack on me and on the Animal Rights movement. I do not intend to
respond to that any more, because it is irrelevant to the actual
issue.

The issue is: the legal status which allows people to
buy puppies or hamsters, even if they love them and treat
them well, is the same legal status which allows commercial
producers to create factory farms. As long as animals are
property under the law, there will be no way to attack the root
cause of the inhumane and immoral torture and slaughter
they face in so many areas, and particularly in food production.
The analogy is appropriate: just as human slavery is unjust
because it treats beings with inherent worth as mere property,
animal slavery -- the legal status of animals as chattels --
is unjust because it treats beings with inherent worth as
property. The public can see it with regard to humans, and
presenting the analogy can hopefully allow them to see it with
regard to animals. It is the way moral progress is made.