Animal Rights by Hilda Kean (Reviewed by Paul Appleby, October 1998)
Reaktion Books, 272pp, hbk, £19.95.
I have only one major criticism of this book: the title. As the author, Tutor in History at Ruskin College, Oxford, states in the preface, she is "not particularly concerned with the philosophical debate as to whether animals have rights or not". So why call the book Animal Rights? Rather, Dr Kean's "concern is with the sort of treatment meted out to animals and the actions that men and women have taken to change this" and "the significant cultural and political influence" of animal welfare organisations. That said, Animal Rights is a fascinating and very readable account of changing attitudes to animals and the evolution of animal welfare societies over the past 200 years.
Surprisingly, perhaps, the author concentrates on the nineteenth century: an era which saw the establishment of numerous animal welfare organisations, beginning with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (now the RSPCA) in 1824. In contrast, the animal rights movement of the past thirty years is covered at something of a gallop, resulting in some notable omissions (Animal Aid, for example). However, it is individual campaigners, rather than organisations, with whom the author's interest lies, revealing a host of largely forgotten heroes and heroines from the past. How many readers, for example, will have heard of campaigners such as Frances Power Cobbe, Angela Burdett-Coutts or Louise Lind af Hageby, of the legendary exploits of canine hero Greyfriars Bobby, of organisations such as the Humanitarian League and the quaintly-named Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association, or of institutions such as the Battersea Anti-Vivisection Hospital? Gone certainly, forgotten perhaps, but nevertheless instrumental in exposing the abuse of animals and working to alleviate their suffering. In tracing their contributions, Dr Kean draws parallels with the contemporary animal rights movement, revealing surprisingly similar approaches to sadly familiar campaigns against animal abuse. Though coming from a variety of backgrounds and political persuasions (many, though by no means all, being active in the women's suffrage and humanitarian movements) the leading players were nevertheless united in their compassion for animals. We owe a great deal to these pioneers and their modern counterparts because "those who bring compassion and humanity into their dealings with animals enhance not only the lives of animals but of people too"; and we should be grateful to Hilda Kean too, for bringing us their stories.
Paul Appleby, October 1998
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Author: Paul Appleby
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