Muriel Dowding, Baroness Dowding
Muriel Dowding, Baroness Dowding | |
|---|---|
Muriel Dowding, in 1953, in her fake fur robes for the coronation of Elizabeth II | |
| Born | Muriel Albino 22 March 1908 London, England |
| Died | 20 November 1993 (aged 85) Hove, England |
| Occupation | Animal rights activist |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
Muriel Dowding, Baroness Dowding (née Albino; other married name Whiting; 22 March 1908 – 20 November 1993) was an English humanitarian and animal rights activist known for championing anti-vivisection, vegetarianism and the improvement of animal welfare. Like her second husband Lord Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding she was a vegetarian, an anti-vivisectionist, spiritualist and theosophist. She coined the term cruelty-free and was a pioneer of the cruelty-free movement.
In 1959, Dowding founded the charity Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC) and Beauty Without Cruelty Cosmetics (BWC Ltd) in 1963, to highlight the suffering of animals in the fur and cosmetic trade and led the way in the commercial production of synthetic alternatives to fur and cruelty-free cosmetics. She was a president of the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) and vice-president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). In 1969, she cofounded the International Association against Painful Experiments on Animals (IAAPEA).