In 1964, Harrison published Animal Machines, which describes
intensive 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 by
Francis Brambell to investigate the welfare of farm animals. In 1965, the "Brambell Report" was published which outlined
five freedoms.[6] Harrison's book was published in seven countries and was the inspiration for the European Convention for the Protection of Animals Kept for Farming Purposes.[7] In 1986 she was awarded an
OBE.[8]
Harrison died of cancer in 2000, shortly before her eightieth birthday.[8]
Legacy
The Australian ethicist
Peter Singer has said that reading Animal Machines was important in his becoming a vegetarian and adopting the views that he sets out in Animal Liberation.[9][10]
^McKenna, Carol. (2000).
"Ruth Harrison". The Guardian. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
^Swanson, Janice C. (1998). Harrison to Rollin: Farm Animal Welfare in Transition. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 1 (2): 167-174.
^Sayer, Karen. (2013). Animal Machines: The Public Response to Intensification in Great Britain, c. 1960–c. 1973. Agricultural History 87 (4): 473-501.