This timeline describes major events in the history of animal welfare and animal rights.
Overview
Period Description c.14000–1000 BCE The domestication of animals began with dogs. From 8500 to 1000 BCE, cats, sheep, goats, cows, pigs, chickens, donkeys, horses, silkworms, camels, bees, ducks, and reindeer were domesticated by various civilizations. 1000 BCE–700 CE Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism started teaching ahimsa, nonviolence toward all living beings. Many adherents of these religions began foregoing meat-eating and animal sacrifice, and, in the case of Jainism, taking great precautions to avoid injuring animals. The earliest known reference to the idea of non-violence to animals (pashu-ahimsa), apparently in a moral sense, has been found in the Kapisthala Katha Samhita of the Yajurveda (KapS 31.11), written about the 8th century BCE. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam began less comprehensive in their concern for animals, but included some provisions for humane treatment. A number of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers advocated for vegetarianism and kindness toward animals. The ancient Indian philosopher Thiruvalluvar (between 1st century BCE and 5th century CE) wrote an exclusive chapter on moral vegetarianism in his work Tirukkural, insisting strictly on a plant-based diet, with separate chapters on ahimsa (or non-harming) and non-killing. Vivisection for scientific and medical purposes began in ancient Greece. Under the influence of Buddhism, a ban on meat-eating was instated in Japan. 1600–1800 Enlightenment philosophers took up the question of animals and their treatment, some arguing that they were sentient beings who deserved protection. The period also saw early laws regulating cruelty to animals in places including Ireland and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1800–1914 British Parliament passed the first national animal protection legislation, and the first animal protection and vegetarian organizations formed in the U.S. and U.K. The American and British anti-vivisection movements grew in the late 19th century, led by Frances Power Cobbe in Britain and culminating in the Brown Dog affair, then declining sharply thereafter. The Japanese taboo against meat-eating died out under the Meiji Restoration. 1914–1966 The use of animals grew tremendously with the beginning of intensive animal agriculture in the 1920s and the increasing role of animal experimentation in science and cosmetics. Media coverage of animal abuses spurred concern over animal welfare in the U.S. and U.K., and helped bring about the first federal animal welfare legislation in the U.S. The theoretical possibility of in vitro animal products was recognized. 1966– Consumption of intensively farmed animal products boomed worldwide, with global meat production rising from approximately 78 million tons in 1963 to 308 million tons in 2014. In the US and Europe, books, documentaries, and media coverage of controversies surrounding animal cruelty boosted the animal rights and welfare movements, while destructive direct actions by groups like the Animal Liberation Front draw public rebuke and government crackdown. Research on in vitro animal products gained traction, resulting in the first in vitro meats. Beginning in the late 1980s, Europe took the lead in animal welfare reform. In the West and some other countries, public interest in animal welfare, animal rights, and plant-based diets increased significantly.
Detailed timeline