Ruth Harrison | |
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 Harrison in 1965 | |
| Born | Ruth Winsten (1920-06-24)24 June 1920 London, England |
| Died | 13 June 2000(2000-06-13) (aged 79) London, England |
| Alma mater | Bedford College, London |
| Occupations | Animal welfare activist and writer |
| Notable work | Animal Machines (1964) |
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Ruth HarrisonOBE (née Winsten; 24 June 1920 – 13 June 2000)[1] was an Englishanimal welfare activist and writer.
Harrison was born in London, the daughter of the authorStephen Winsten and the artistClara Birnberg. She was educated atBedford College, London.[2] As aQuaker and as aconscientious objector during theSecond World War (thereby following the stand of her father in theFirst World War), she served in theFriends Ambulance Unit, first inHackney, London, and then withdisplaced persons inSchleswig-Holstein andBochum in Germany. Ruth married architect Dex Harrison in 1954. She served on theFarm Animal Welfare Committee.[3]
In 1964, Harrison publishedAnimal Machines, which describesintensive poultry and livestock farming. The book exposed the suffering inflicted on farm animals by industrialised agriculture.[4][5] The book prompted the British government to appoint a committee chaired byFrancis Brambell to investigate the welfare of farm animals. In 1965, the "Brambell Report" was published which outlinedFive Freedoms.[6] Harrison's book was published in seven countries and was the inspiration for theEuropean Convention for the Protection of Animals Kept for Farming Purposes.[7] In 1986 she was awarded anOBE.[8]
Harrison died of cancer in 2000, shortly before her eightieth birthday.[8]
The Australian ethicistPeter Singer has said that readingAnimal Machines was important in his becoming a vegetarian and adopting the views that he sets out inAnimal Liberation.[9][10]
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) president and co-founderIngrid Newkirk, also credits Harrison's book,Animal Machines, with changing her life.[11]
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