Yesterday, the animal rights activist, 70, from Surrey, compared calling animals pets to the treatment of women before feminism, when they were not allowed to own property or were patronisingly called ‘sweetie’ or ‘honey’ to make them seem ‘less of a person’.

Miss Newkirk said: ‘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.

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