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1861–1931 England
William Brown (September 1861 – 27 September 1931) was an English veterinarian, anti-vivisectionist, and advocate for animal rights, temperance, and peace. A prominent Quaker, he was actively engaged in religious, social, and political work throughout his life.
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When we really understand what pain has to teach us, we shall in large measure have abolished suffering.
Our Lesser Brethren (1919)
There are paths to knowledge which must be forever closed to us, and the way of vivisection is one of those paths. It is made possible only because of our cowardice and fears.
I have observed cats and dogs, horses, cattle and sheep under every kind of pain, and I do unhesitatingly say that they suffer as we suffer.
While some animals are protected by law, far too many still remain outside the pale of such protection. And so, I ask: should not their capacity to suffer be the measure of their right to be protected? This is not a plea for charity but for justice—a right that must be claimed.
Have you a right to torture animals for your pleasure? Have you a right to make their lives amid terror and misery in order to derive some measure of gratification from what are called the pleasures of the chase?
I am quite convinced that within its limitations an animal has this higher life, and that it has not merely a 'blind life within the brain', but a very real one within the soul, with its own standard of right and wrong.
When considering the extent of an animal’s capacity for suffering, it is impossible to draw a distinct line between domestic animals and so-called vermin. Such a line is purely a matter of sentiment. The fact remains that all vertebrate animals are highly sensitive.
Much has also been said about the cruelties inflicted by animals upon one another. But I must emphasize that, in their original wild state, and with rare exceptions, animals kill only for food, not for the sake of killing. That is a prerogative peculiar to humankind.
Every form of cruelty—whether it be trapping, hunting, the working of ponies in mines, or the practice of vivisection—casts a slur on humanity. These actions demand our attention if we are to make progress as a truly humane society.
As to the actual intensity of pain felt by animals, let us take each of the five senses. When compared to humans, most of these senses are far more acutely and highly developed in animals. Additionally, animals possess other remarkable senses, such as the homing instinct and an awareness of their approaching death.
Yet, like all God’s wonderful gifts to us, this great gift of pain can be turned into a horrible curse. Just in proportion as God’s love provides the possibility of good, so our vice or ignorance makes the possibility of evil. The abuse of God’s gift of pain may be the cause of the most terrible of evils, and we call it cruelty.
Our Lesser Brethren (1919)
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