Iwas 12 years of age and mooching along Putney high street when someone thrust into my hand a leaflet that changed my life. It bore a photograph of a cat with its head covered in electrodes, and the slogan: Curiosity Will Kill This Cat. I had a beloved cat of my own called Chippy. The sight of the leaflet’s tortured feline froze me to the spot.

Last year alone there were 2.64 million animal tests in Britain

This was the mid-1980s, when animal testing was the main animal rights issue. You didn’t hear much about veganism, instead it was a different ‘v’ word – vivisection – that was the focus of the conversation. I began handing out leaflets myself, imagining that others would be as moved as I had been. If we shouted loudly enough, I thought, decency might yet drown out cruelty. It seemed i

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