ANIMAL WELFARE

Since its beginnings in the 17th century, the Religious Society of Friends has had an instinctive concern for animals (see the quotation from Quaker Faith and Practice to the right).

George Fox, the first Quaker, condemned hunting and hawking. John Woolman, the 18th century American Quaker and anti-slavery pioneer, wrote:

To say that we love God and at the same time exercise cruelty toward the least creature is a contradiction in itself.

Quakers and Kindred Animals

Quakers and Kindred Animals (QUAKA) is an international initiative which seeks to raise standards of animal welfare in world trade. It was founded by a group of quakers local to East Anglia.

Quaker Concern for Animals

Quaker Concern for Animals "witnesses to the divine in all creation and works for the protection of animals and the promotion of their rights." Membership is open to people of all faiths and none. Their website states:

We take a spiritual yet practical approach and are committed to the defence of our fellow species, whilst appealing to that of God in everyone.

We campaign peacefully, wherever we feel our voice might make a difference, working towards that time when the eyes of human animals are fully open to the suffering of all of God’s creation.

(The history of the movement is as follows. In 1891, the Friends’ Anti-Vivisection Association was founded, with Joseph Stores Fry as its first President and among its members, the Quaker MP Joshua Rowntree. The association later became the Animal Welfare and Anti-Vivisection Society. Finally, in 1978, the association changed its name again to the current one: Quaker Concern for Animals.)