The Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society (ADAVS) was an

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

advocacy organisation, co-founded in England, in 1903, by the animal rights advocates

Lizzy Lind af Hageby Emilie Augusta Louise "Lizzy" Lind af Hageby (20 September 1878 – 26 December 1963) was a Swedish-British feminist and animal rights advocate who became a prominent anti-vivisection activist in England in the early 20th century. Born to ...

, a Swedish-British feminist, and the English peeress

Nina Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton Nina Mary Benita Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton (née Nina Mary Benita Poore; 13 May 1878 – 12 January 1951) was an English peeress and animal rights activist. Early life Douglas-Hamilton was born on 13 May 1878 in Nether Wallop, Hamps ...

Kean, Hilda Hilda Kean (born August 1949) is a British historian who specialises in public and cultural history, and in particular the cultural history of animals. She is former Dean and Director of Public History at Ruskin College, Oxford, and an Honora ...

"The 'Smooth Cool Men of Science': The Feminist and Socialist Response to Vivisection"
''History Workshop Journal'', 1995, 40: 16–38.

History

It was based for many years at Animal Defence House, 15

St James's Place St James's Place is a street in the St James's district of London near Green Park. It was first developed around 1694, the historian John Strype describing it in 1720 as a "good Street ... which receiveth a fresh Air out of the Park; the Houses ...

, London, and ran a 237-acre animal sanctuary at

Ferne House Ferne House is a country house in the parish of Donhead St Andrew in Wiltshire, England, owned by Viscount Rothermere. There has been a settlement on the site since 1225 AD. The current house, known as Ferne Park and the third to occupy the sit ...

near Shaftesbury, Dorset, an estate owned by the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton. The Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society's executive council included

Alice Drakoules Alice Marie Drakoules (; other married name Lewis; – 15 January 1933) was a British humanitarian, vegetarian and campaigner for animal welfare. Life Drakoules was born near Brussels to English parents, in about 1850. In 1876, she married Will ...

who was a lifelong campaigner for

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

and a keen supporter of the society. She helped the society campaign for licensed slaughterhouses, humane slaughter and for an ended to performing animals. The society came to widespread attention during the

Brown Dog affair The Brown Dog affair was a political controversy about vivisection that raged in Britain from 1903 until 1910. It involved the infiltration of University of London medical lectures by Swedish feminists, battles between medical students and the ...

(1903–1910), which began when Lind af Hageby infiltrated the

vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for experiment ...

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. The society was associated with Hageby's International Humanitarian Bureau."The International Humanitarian Bureau"
lonsea.de. Retrieved 14 January 2022. It published ''The Anti-Vivisection and Humanitarian Review'' in 1929 and ''Progress Today: The Humanitarian and Anti-Vivisection Review'' in the 1930s. Following Lind af Hageby's death 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.

Selected publications

''Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society: Reports for 1933 and 1934''
(1935)
''Progress Today: The Humanitarian and Anti-Vivisection Review''
(1937)

History

Selected publications

See also

References

Further reading