From the former British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection journal AV
Times (August/September 1974)
Just re-elected for the third year in succession as president of the
British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection is Mrs Betty Earp, of The
Ridings, East Preston.
Mrs Earp has been secretary of the union's Littlehampton branch for
18 years now. She has been involved in anti-vivisection campaigns for 30
years.
She has also served on the union's national committee for 17 years,
including several years as national chairman before she became president
three years ago.
How did you first become involved in the anti-vivisection movement? I
asked.
'I was always attracted to the shop window of the union premises in
Whitehall as a child,' she replied. 'There were horrible pictures and
models of animals suffering through vivisection.
'Now, of course, we have more up-to-date propaganda in the window.
But at the time I was horrified to learn that such things went on, and
instinctively knew that it wasn't right. That's how it all started.'
Mrs Earp also belongs to the League Against Cruel Sports, the RSPCA
and numerous animal welfare organisations, and because of her
convictions, is a vegetarian.
But to get back to the union, 'Our Littlehampton branch is not as
active as it used to be,' she told me.' Most of the members have grown
older or moved away. And many younger people seem interested these days,
but they haven't the time to devote to it. We used to have a thousand
members but now we have about 500 and would like more.'
Lack of active helpers was why the Littlehampton branch had not held
any fund-raising events lately, she explained.
In her presidential address, at the annual meeting, Mrs Earp told
members, 'Vivisection is a sacrilegious abuse of sentient creatures who
have as much right to their lives as we have to ours. The infamies of
vivisection are a disgrace to our supposedly civilised nation, and it is
the blackest of all black crimes being perpetrated against God and his
Creation.'
She explained that the union was committed to the total abolition of
vivisection. 'We cannot accept any measure which would exempt one
species at the expense of another,' she said. 'That would be morally
wrong.'
But she welcomed the recent reduction in experiments on live animals
and the great advance in alternative humane and non-vivisectional
methods of research. The 1972 figures, released late last year, showed a
reduction of about half a million experiments on live animals. If the
reduction continued at this rate, vivisection could be abolished in five
years, she said.
The union was sponsoring scientists at several British universities,
giving them annual grants and buying equipment to conduct non-vivisectional
research. Many more scientists had indicated their willingness to
transfer to non-vivisectional research if the necessary instruments and
funds were made available to them by the Government.
(originally published in the Littlehampton Gazette, August 9, 1974)
Reproduced with thanks
Return to Articles
