The Revd Professor Andrew Linzey, PhD, DD

LONDON. Churches across Britain have held prayers for animals killed for food as well as hunted animals and those used in laboratory experiments. To correspond with Animal Welfare Sunday, 3 October, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals distributed thousands of free copies of a service for animal welfare, by Andrew Linzey, a prominent theologian and animal rights advocate.

It is a new edition of a service Linzey first wrote in 1975, when he was a theological student. “We’ve had a tremendous response,” he told Ecumenical News International. “Thirty years ago animal services were unknown. Now they’re almost commonplace.” He echoed the 19th century English preacher Charles Spurgeon, who said a person “could not be a true Christian if their cat or dog were not the better off for it”.

Linzey, a senior research fellow in theology and animal welfare at Oxford University, said that services too often focused on domestic pets. He wanted to see more stress on other suffering of animals caused by people. “Clergy often don’t appreciate that animal welfare is a Christian duty,” he added. “The Bible says we may use, but do not own, animals.”

About 840 million animals, including 800 million chickens, are killed annually for food in Britain, said Linzey. This is 14 animals for every person in the country. He asserted that more than 2.5 million animals are used in experiments each year. Fox hunting, which kills several thousand foxes a year, has the highest profile among animal welfare issues in Britain.

The House of Commons, Britain’s lower legislative chamber, after a seven-year political controversy, has just voted to outlaw it. The ban is expected to come into force in 2006. Linzey said he was “pretty much an absolutist” over inflicting suffering on animals by research. The potential to save human lives was not enough, he argued. “I’m not a utilitarian. Utility can’t justify cruelty.” However, he condemned violent demonstrations against animal experiments and threats to laboratory staff. “I’m in despair about activists’ activities. They are self-contradictory. Animal welfare is about extending peacefulness, and violence is not the way to do it.”

In January, Cambridge University axed plans for a US$57 million research centre on primate animals and in July the main contractor for Oxford University’s $32 million animal facility pulled out. Both decisions followed strong opposition from anti-vivisection campaigners, who have also frequently targeted a leading research company, Huntingdon Life Sciences.