Animal Concern is celebrating 150 years of campaigning for animals!
Animal Concern is proud to be celebrating our 150th year as a prominent animal welfare charity dedicated to the protection and wellbeing of animals in Scotland and across the UK. Our campaigns aim to raise awareness and bring about positive legal changes for all animals, domestic, farmed and wild, throughout the country.
Our Origins
This year marks the 150th anniversary since Animal Concern’s founder, the Scottish Anti-Vivisection Society (SAVS), began campaigning in 1876. SAVS campaigned for an end to animal experimentation over several decades. In 1988, SAVS became Animal Concern (Scotland) Limited, with our name changing again in 1992 to Animal Concern Ltd., incorporating the Scottish Anti-Vivisection Society.
SAVS was formed four years after the death of Edinburgh’s infamous Greyfriars Bobby, a terrier who guarded the grave of his owner, John Gray, for 14 years. At the time, there were many other dogs roaming the streets of Scotland with many of them captured for vivisection. As a result, SAVS formed to combat the issue. Originally, the group consisted of three members, including the Reverend R. Henderson, a General Grant of Corstophine. Another member, Peter Hill, petitioned Parliament seeking the total abolition of vivisection in April 1884 and was, unsurprisingly, unsuccessful. Following the death of SAVS’ longtime secretary Phyllis Walker, we donated her collection of campaign literature to Glasgow’s Mitchell Library, where it is still held today.
Before word processors were widely available, Animal Concern used printing presses to print and disseminate our campaign materials to the general public, using photographically engraved copper plates which were pressed onto leaflets and educational pamphlets. We still have many of these plates today.
Campaigning
SAVS Autumn 1984 Newsletter
As SAVS and Animal Concern, we have campaigned on a plethora of animal related issues and reported on various examples of harm done to all different species. Before we embraced technology, we updated our supporters via newsletter, which were published and disseminated seasonally. We still have copies of these newsletters today, which illustrate our diverse campaigning history, including but not limited to: arranging and attending protests; producing reports; conducting undercover work; and lobbying local and national political representatives.
The history of Animal Concern/SAVS is rich with both direct action and legislative/policy work; it is this combination that has allowed us to cover a range of campaign topics and help many species of animals with our work.
Undercover photos from a bird cull carried out by Berwickshire District Council in 1988
Our campaigns over the year have covered issues such as cat, dog, seal, gull, and pigeon culling; salmon farming; tail-docking of dogs, sheep, horses, and cattle; ownership of exotic animals; rodent and bird trapping; the killing of grey squirrels; live exports and imports of animals; substandard conditions at zoos and animal parks; hunting and gamekeeping; the fur trade; firearms and airguns; and much more.
National Anti-Vivisection Society protest in 1988; photo from Tim Phillips
Animal Concern has previously joined multi-group protests and demonstrations in places across the UK, such as Aberdeen, Glasgow, Leeds, and Liverpool. These include protests against animal testing in the cosmetic industry, hunting, and fur, as well as beagle rescue action, anti-vivisection demonstrations, and much more. We have also been involved in procuring photos of animal experiments in an undercover capacity, both at animal testing facilities and outdoors on the scene of other animal welfare violations.
Animal Testing
Our roots, as our previous name suggests, are firmly rooted in the fight against animal testing. Since our conception in 1876, we have been campaigning to bring an end to the horrors faced by animals in laboratories across the UK. Over the years, we have remained committed to this issue and we continue to campaign against it, as animal testing is still routinely carried out, even in 2026.
Now our motto, ‘Legislate to Liberate’ began as a campaign slogan in 1985, giving a name to our unfortunately futile efforts to repeal the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The Act criminalised lab workers leaking information to campaign groups, and as such, seriously hindered the work of anti-vivisection groups, like SAVS.
In 1985, SAVS had major campaign success with $4 million in funds suspended and a research lab fined $4000 over the brain damage-research project carried out by the Western Infirmary, and Glasgow and Pennsylvania universities, as a result of SAVS uncovering the link between Scotland and America.
In 1986, SAVS published a report ‘The use of dogs in Glasgow research laboratories’, revealing 278 dogs were used in experiments between 1984 and 1986, with less than 10% of them having been bred specifically for research. Animal Concern published another report on Dog Research in Glasgow, drawing on data collected between 1987-1990, which revealed that researchers had not yet adopted the requirement of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to use purpose bred dogs, which was effective from 1990. The report cited that 39 experiments used beagles, and 209 greyhounds; 70 mongrels, 5 boxers and 46 unspecified breeds were also used in testing.
SAVS was also involved in ‘Operation Dark Harvest’, following the British War Office’s plans to use anthrax on German civilians in 1942, codenamed ‘Operation Vegetarian’. As part of the operation, 60 to 80 sheep were taken to Gruinard Island in the Scottish Highlands, to be test subjects. The island was bombed with anthrax 22 times and all of the sheep were eventually killed by it. Although the operation itself was never conducted, the contamination on Gruinard was left until a government clean-up was conducted in 1986, as a result of tireless campaign efforts. Following this, sheep were used as test subjects once again, and SAVS managed to get the Ministry of Defense to commit to not killing the sheep to carry out autopsies following testing. However, fifty guinea pigs were still killed afterwards, to ascertain test results.
As Animal Concern, we led a campaign, ‘Target 2000’, which recommended the Government banned vivisection by the year 2000. This campaign was unfortunately unsuccessful and, 26 years later, we are still continuing our campaign against the licensed cruelty that is animal testing.
Protesting the Fur Trade
In February 1983, at an anti-fur protest on Glasgow’s Buchanan Street, a fire coat was sprayed by a fire extinguisher, and on August the 4th 1984, activists from SAVS and other groups occupied Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Ayr, and Glasgow branches of Skincraft to once again protest fur production. Seven years later, in February 1991, Animal Concern board members Irene Tully and Joy Marshall were present at a protest at The City Fur House which eventually closed down due to the collapse of the fur trade.
Previous Board Members Irene Tully and Joy Marshall attend a protest against the fur trade
Protesting the fur industry has been a big part of the history of Animal Concern/SAVS’ history. Now, in our 150th year, Animal Concern is re-joining the fight against the fur trade, with our campaign to bring an end to fur sales at House of Bruar.
Our Current Work
Animal Concern recently celebrated success alongside the other members of the Unbound the Greyhound coalition, when MSP Mark Ruskell’s Bill to ban Greyhound racing was passed in Parliament on the 18th of March 2026.
Currently, we are working on the following campaigns:
Starving sheep on St Kilda
Salmon farming in Scotland
In our 150th year of operating as a leading animal welfare charity, we urge supporters to become a member of Animal Concern, and a voice for the voiceless: animals.