The Canadian Anti-Vivisection Society was a Canadian anti-vivisection organization that gained support in the early 20th-century. The Society aimed to eliminate the "practice of cutting, burning or crushing any living man, bird or beast for experimental purposes". [1] The Society was the first anti-vivisection organization in Canada. [2] [3]
The Society was formed in July 1921 by Marguerite Mackay and Agnes Stanley in Toronto. By the second month, the Society reported that they had 40 members. Theosophist Flora MacDonald Denison and her son were present at the first meeting. [4] Denison's sister was Agnes Stanley. [3] [4] The Society had strong links to the Toronto Humane Society, Theosophical Society and the anti-vaccination movement. [3] Most of the Society's members were women who supported the suffrage movement. [4] Notable male members were cartoonist John Wilson Bengough and Toronto physician John B. Fraser. [3] Bengough was a vice-president of the Toronto Humane Society. [3]
The Society's first president was Agnes Stanley. John B. Fraser, an anti-vaccinationist and germ theory denialist was the second president of the Society in the 1920s. [1] [3] Fraser stated that the object of the Society was to prevent cruelty to animals in any way possible and that as a physician he did not know of any benefits that vivisection of animals had given humans. [5] The Society denounced not only animal experimentation but the practice of vaccination as cruel to the animals from whom the serums were taken. [3] In 1923, British anti-vivisectionist Walter Hadwen lectured at Forester's Hall, Toronto for the Society. [6]
Dora Kitto (1873–1949), Honorary Secretary founded a separate branch of the Society in Victoria, British Columbia. [3] Kitto's branch was renamed the Humane Education and Anti-Vivisection Society, the Anti-Vivisection Society of British Columbia in 1930 and the Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society of British Columbia in 1946. [3] After Kitto's death the Society was dissolved.
Edward Jenner was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from Variolae vaccinae, the term devised by Jenner to denote cowpox. He used it in 1798 in the title of his Inquiry into the Variolae vaccinae known as the Cow Pox, in which he described the protective effect of cowpox against smallpox.
James John Garth Wilkinson, was an English homeopathic physician, social reformer, translator and editor of Swedenborg's works, and a writer on Swedenborgian topics.
Muriel Dowding, Baroness Dowding was an English humanitarian and animal rights activist known for championing anti-vivisection, vegetarianism and the improvement of animal welfare. Like her second husband Lord Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding she was a vegetarian, an anti-vivisectionist, spiritualist and theosophist. She coined the term cruelty-free and was a pioneer of the cruelty-free movement.
Maurice Beddow Bayly was an English physician, anti-vivisection and anti-vaccination activist, and Theosophist, best known for his opposition to animal experimentation.
Walter Robert Hadwen was an English general practitioner, pharmaceutical chemist and writer. He was president of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) and an anti-vaccination campaigner, known for his denial of the germ theory of disease.
William Tebb was an English businessman and wide-ranging social reformer. He was an anti-vaccinationist and author of anti-vaccination books. He was also concerned about premature burial.
Charles Thomas Pearce (1815–1883) M.D., M.R.C.S., F.R.S., was an English physician and early opponent of mandatory vaccination. A member of the Royal College of Surgeons, fellow of the Royal Society and a Freemason, Charles was a homoeopath and surgeon, with an interest in medical astrology, vegetarianism, improved care for the mentally ill and the cessation of vivisection.
Albert Tracy Leffingwell, M.D. was an American physician, social reformer, and vocal advocate for vivisection reform.
Alexander Milton Ross was a Canadian botanist, naturalist, physician, abolitionist and anti-vaccination activist. He is best known as an agent for the secret Underground Railroad slave escape network, known in that organization and among slaves as "The Birdman" for his preferred cover story as an ornithologist.
The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) is an international not-for-profit animal protection group, based in London, working to end animal testing, and focused on the replacement of animals in research with advanced, scientific techniques. Since 2006, the NAVS has operated its international campaigns under the working name Animal Defenders International (ADI), and the two groups now work together under the ADI name.
Emilie Augusta Louise "Lizzy" Lind af Hageby was a Swedish-British feminist and animal rights advocate who became a prominent anti-vivisection activist in England in the early 20th century.
Women have played a central role in animal advocacy since the 19th century. The animal advocacy movement – embracing animal rights, animal welfare, and anti-vivisectionism – has been disproportionately initiated and led by women, particularly in the United Kingdom. Women are more likely to support animal rights than men. A 1996 study of adolescents by Linda Pifer suggested that factors that may partially explain this discrepancy include attitudes towards feminism and science, scientific literacy, and the presence of a greater emphasis on "nurturance or compassion" amongst women. Although vegetarianism does not necessarily imply animal advocacy, a 1992 market research study conducted by the Yankelovich research organization concluded that "of the 12.4 million people [in the US] who call themselves vegetarian, 68% are female, while only 32% are male".
Caroline White was an American philanthropist and anti-vivisection activist. She co-founded the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) in 1867, founded its women's branch (WPSPCA) in 1869, and founded the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) in 1883.
Variolation was the method of inoculation first used to immunize individuals against smallpox (Variola) with material taken from a patient or a recently variolated individual, in the hope that a mild, but protective, infection would result. Only 1–2% of those variolated died from the intentional infection compared to 30% who contracted smallpox naturally. Variolation is no longer used today. It was replaced by the smallpox vaccine, a safer alternative. This in turn led to the development of the many vaccines now available against other diseases.
Rise for Animals is a national, registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal rights organization which aims to end nonhuman animal experimentation. It has been described as "one of the oldest and wealthiest anti-vivisection organizations in the United States".
Ernest Bell was an English author, publisher and activist for animal rights and welfare, humanitarianism and vegetarianism.
Flora MacDonald Denison was a Canadian activist, journalist, and businesswoman known for her leadership in the Canadian suffragist movement and her stewardship of Bon Echo Provincial Park in Ontario.
Ethel Douglas Hume was a British anti-vivisectionist, animal welfare writer and traveller. She is best known for authoring a controversial book in 1923 which accused Louis Pasteur of plagiarizing Antoine Béchamp's theories.
Bertrand Peter Allinson was a British physician, naturopath and vegetarianism activist.
Harold Fergie Woods was an English physician, homeopath and anti-vivisection activist.