Major Charles Westley Hume (13 January 1886 – 22 September 1981)

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

MC BSc was a British

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 ...

activist and writer.

Biography

Hume graduated in physics from

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public university, public research university, located in Bloomsbury, London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the federal Universit ...

. He was honorary secretary of the British Science Guild and edited the journal '' Proceedings of the Physical Society'' (1919–1940). He served in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

during World War I and the 47th Divisional Signals (Territorial Army) during World War II. Hume founded the University of London Animal Welfare Society (ULAWS) in 1926, which later became the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW).Haynes, Richard P. (2008). ''The Roots for the Emerging Science of Animal Welfare in Great Britain''. ''Animal Welfare''. Springer. pp. 7–12. He has also been credited as the first to use the expression "animal welfare". Through his efforts the

first book First Book is a national, nonprofit social enterprise focusing on educational equity as a path out of poverty. The organization addresses barriers to education faced by children in low-income and historically excluded communities by providing brand ...

on the care and management of laboratory animals was published by the UFAW in 1947. Richard P. Haynes has suggested that "Hume should be credited as the father of the animal welfare movement". Hume's book ''Man and Beast'' (1962) explores the history, law, philosophy and theology underlying cruelty to animals. A review noted that "these subjects are dealt with objectively and clearly, lightly yet seriously, tactfully yet persistently, especially in the factual and historical aspects." In 1956, Hume received the Schweitzer Medal for his contributions to animal welfare. The Charles Hume Memorial Fund was set up in his honour.

Selected publications

*''Law and Practice: The Rights of Laboratory Animals''. In ''The UFAW Handbook on the Care and Management of Laboratory Animals'' (Edited by Alastair N. Worden, 1947) *''The Status of Animals in the Christian Religion'' (1956) *''Man and Beast'' (1962)Gleason, Sean J; Swanson, Janice C. (1988)
''An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Materials Concerning the Philosophy of Animal Rights''
United States Department of Agriculture.

Biography

Selected publications

See also

References

Further reading