Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society

photograph
A demonstration on 19 March 1910 in Trafalgar Square, London, in support of the Brown Dog. The society's banner can be seen on Nelson's Column in the background.
A horse and cart belonging to the society in London, circa 1910

The Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society was co-founded in England in 1903 by Lizzy Lind af Hageby, a Swedish feminist, and Nina Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton.[1] It was based for many years at Animal Defence House, 15 St James's Place, London, and ran a 237-acre animal sanctuary at Ferne House near Shaftesbury, Dorset, an estate owned by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton.[2]

The society came to widespread attention during the Brown Dog affair (1903–1910), which began when Lind af Hageby infiltrated the vivisection in University College London of a brown terrier dog. The subsequent description of the experiment in her book, The Shambles of Science (1903) – in which she wrote that the dog had been conscious throughout and in pain – led to a protracted scandal and a libel case, which the accused researcher won. The affair continued for several years, making a name both for Lind af Hageby and for the society.[1]

When Lind af Hageby died in December 1963, the society's assets were transferred to a trust, the Animal Defence Trust, which continues to offer grants for animal-protection projects.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kean, Hilda. "The 'Smooth Cool Men of Science': The Feminist and Socialist Response to Vivisection", History Workshop Journal, 1995, 40: 16–38.
  2. ↑ Smith, Andy. "Press dynasty is coming home from exile to a '£6m' mansion", The Observer, 13 June 1999.
  3. ↑ Animal Defence Trust. "History", accessed 23 April 2012.

Further reading