Controversy has arisen over Pope Francis' concerns over couples who have pets instead of children.
Pope Francis said at a mass mass held at the Vatican's Vatican on the 5th local time, "People these days either have no children or want only one, but they keep two dogs and two cats." "This is a form of selfishness."
He then criticized 'this denial of fatherhood and motherhood weakens us and robs us of our humanity'.
He also emphasized that couples who cannot have children for biological reasons should consider adoption.
In response to the Pope's remarks, the Italian animal rights group criticized it as "a statement that limits the amount of love in our lives" and "It is very strange to think that giving love to someone is taking away what you give to others."
In an interview with the media in 2014, Pope Francis once described the act of keeping pets as 'another phenomenon of cultural degradation'.