The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Reform Group was founded in 1970 by members of the British
RSPCA
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...
who were frustrated by the organization's inability, as they saw it, to deal effectively with the issues raised by
factory farming,
animal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to control the variables that affect the behavior or biological system under study. This ...
, and
hunting
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...
. The group was particularly concerned that pro-hunting members were attempting to prevent the society from expressing opposition to
bloodsports; several of them had said they would lobby to have the RSPCA's charitable status removed if it campaigned against hunting.
[Ryder, Richard Dudley. ''Animal Revolution: Changing Attitudes Toward Speciesism''. Berg, 2000, p. 172ff.]
The Reform Group was led by
Brian Seager, John Bryant, and
Stanley Cover, and the aim was to secure the election to the 46-member RSPCA Council of Bryant, Seager, and other supporters of the group's more radical agenda, including
Andrew Linzey
Andrew Linzey (born 2 February 1952) is an English Anglican priest, theologian, and prominent figure in Christian vegetarianism. He is a member of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oxford, and held the world's first academic post in Et ...
, the Oxford theologian, and
Richard D. Ryder, the Oxford psychologist who coined the term
speciesism
Speciesism () is a term used in philosophy regarding the treatment of individuals of different species. The term has several different definitions within the relevant literature. A common element of most definitions is that speciesism involves t ...
.
[Ryder, Richard. 2009. "Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Reform Group"] in Marc Bekoff (ed.). ''Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare''. Greenwood, pp. 307–308.]
Ryder writes that, from then until 1978, the Reform Group succeeded in changing the RSPCA from an organization that had come to focus mostly on companion animals – despite its own radical 19th-century roots – to one that opposed bloodsports, developed comprehensive animal welfare policies, and focused more on farming, animal testing, and wildlife. Ryder became vice-chairman of the RSPCA Council in 1976, then chairman from 1977 to 1979.
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Notes
Animal rights movement
Animal welfare organisations based in the United Kingdom
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