Anna Briggs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Anna Catherine Reynolds (1909-12-09)9 December 1909 |
| Died | 15 February 2011(2011-02-15) (aged 101) |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Spouse | |
Anna Catherine Briggs (9 December 1909 – 15 February 2011) was an American activist foranimal rights andwelfare. She was the founder of the National Humane Education Society.
Briggs founded the National Humane Education Society (NHES) in 1948.[1] The goal of the organization was to promote kindness to animals and children. The organization was able to neuter over 2000 cats and dogs each year and rehome them.[1] At aged 95, Briggs still worked for the NHES five days a week.[2] She was president of the NHES.[3][4]
In 1950, Briggs established the Peace Plantation Animal Sanctuary on a 150-acre farm inSterling, Virginia.[5][6] It relocated toWalton, New York in 1984. Briggs also founded the Briggs Animal Adoption Center inCharles Town, West Virginia which is managed by the NHES.[1][5]
In the early 1960s, she rescued 50 animals from the construction site ofDulles International Airport.[7] In the 1980s, she collaborated with theAmerican Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and was responsible for feeding stray cats atGrand Central Station.[8] Briggs was an opponent of thefur trade commenting that fur garments were ethically wrong as they were obtained at the cost of animal suffering and that clothing made from synthetic material is just as protective and less expensive than furs.[9]
She was awarded the Animal Humanitarian of the Year Award for the United States by theAnimal Protection Institute.[10]
Briggs was the daughter of Robert and Mary Hahn Reynolds.[11] She married James Phillip Briggs in 1927. He was the founder of the Be Kind to Animals Rest Farm inPotomac, Maryland and inspired her to become a vegetarian.[7] He was president of the Washington Vegetarian Society.[12] He died in 1945.[7]
Briggs was a vegetarian for over 80 years.[7] She was the oldest vegetarian featured in the bookVegetarians and Vegans in America Today, published in 2006.[13] She died aged 101, on 15 February 2011 at Golden Living Rose Hill Nursing Home inBerryville, Virginia.[11]
I believe we have a responsibility to those creatures to give them a decent life: food, water, a home and respect for their lives. That's not a lot, but for millions of animals in the United States alone it means the difference between life and death.
— Anna Briggs, in 1999[14]
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