Henry Spira and the Animal Rights Movement

Peter Singer tells the inspiring story of Henry Spira, whose careful yet consistent actions shaped the American animal rights movement in the 20th century.

However, with Spira's life story, Peter Singer has written much more than a biography; he also documents 30 years of the animal rights movement, its strategies, successes, and problems: a lesson and learning piece for all who are committed to human and animal rights.

"Imagine someone clamping your head in a frame. You stare helplessly, unable to resist; your head is pulled back. Your lower eyelid is pulled away. Then chemicals are dripped into your eye. You feel pain. You scream and writhe in desperation. There is no escape. This is the Draize test ..., the test that Revlon and other cosmetic companies perform on thousands of rabbits to test their products."

This text appeared in April 1980 in a full-page advertisement in the New York Times. Above it was a picture of a white rabbit with bandaged eyes and two laboratory beakers. Above the picture, a single question was emblazoned: "How many rabbits does Revlon blind for beauty?"

This advertisement marked the offensive phase of Henry Spira's campaign against Revlon and other cosmetic giants, whose goal was the abolition of the Draize test. By the end of the same year, the first milestone was reached: Revlon and other cosmetic companies made immense sums available for researching alternative methods to the Draize test. However, it took almost ten years until the final victory, the abolition of the Draize test in the cosmetics industry. During these years, Spira launched new campaigns: against the LD50 test, against unsustainable animal husbandry and slaughter methods in the poultry, egg, and meat industries, while keeping the previously started campaigns in view and under control.

Henry Spira's commitment had not always been to animals. As a teenager in New York, he had joined a radical Jewish-socialist group, followed the revolution in Cuba as a trade union activist and journalist in the 50s and 60s, fought for the black civil rights movement, and battled against the corruption of the National Maritime Union. It was not until 1974, after meeting Peter Singer and attending an animal ethics seminar with him, that he began his fight for a better lot for animals. Not that he was no longer interested in injustices against humans, but he saw a big difference: people can stand up and fight for their rights, but animals cannot. They need someone to speak for them and fight for them.

Until his death in September 1998, the fight for animals remained the central theme in Henry Spira's life. His work is continued, currently under the chairmanship of Peter Singer, by Animal Rights International, but also by the many large and small organizations, animal rights groups, and individuals who had already collaborated with him for many years as members of Spira's coalition against the Draize test and against the LD50 test.

(Animal Rights - Human Duties, Vol. 5)

Peter Singer

Publisher: Harald Fischer Verlag, Erlangen

ISBN 3-89131-404-3