1965 – The first anti-vivisection seminar in India

By Sharon St Joan

This is one of a series of stories about the early days of the animal welfare movement in India.

In 1965 Blue Cross of India sponsored the first anti-vivisection seminar ever held in India.

Diana Hamilton Andrews, a leading British animal advocate at the time, wrote a report on the seminar, which she had flown to India in order to attend. “Even at 9:30 in the morning,” she wrote, “It was almost unbearably hot, and I was grateful for the fans which whirred in the ceiling.” She describes the women wearing brilliant saris and brightly-colored flowers in their hair – all so very different from the snow-covered London airport she had left the day before.

The Chief Minister of Madras, the Hon. Sri M. Bhaktavatsalam inaugurated the seminar, and Srimathi Rukmini Devi, the Chairperson of the Animal Welfare Board of India, presided.

Captain V. Sundaram, President…