Interview News With Animal Defenders International

Founded in 1990 as the animal welfare, conservation, and youth wing of the National Anti-Vivisection Society, Animal Defenders International has now grown into a major international campaigning group in its own right, lobbying on issues such as animals in circuses; worldwide traffic in endangered species; vegetarian/vegan diet; factory farming; and pollution. ADI is now an adult as well as youth group, and involves itself in international animal rescues as well as educational work on animal welfare, conservation and the environment.Our Field Officers work undercover to obtain evidence, film, and photographs for presentation to parliament and media. In 1999, evidence of cruelty collected by ADI led to the successful prosecutions of Mary Chipperfield, her husband Roger Cawley and their elephant keeper Steve Gills.Rescues range from seizing an entire circus (6 lions, 3 tigers, a python, 3 horses, 5 dogs) to funding facilities at a badger hospital. Three lions, rescued by ADI and believed to be from the extinct-listed Barbary sub-species, were put in a South African breeding programme in the hope that they would be re-introduced to the wild.Our reports and videos have been used as far afield as Singapore and Colombia to secure animal protection measures. We provide resources to schools to enable children to examine animal and environmental issues.ADI supporters include Sir Paul McCartney, Kim Basinger, Belinda Carlisle, Wendy Turner Webster, Michaela Strachan, Benjamin Zephaniah, Jenny Seagrove, Mark Radcliffe, Brian Blessed and Twiggy.

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