Sir David Amess posthumously receives Lord Houghton Award for outstanding service to animal welfare
Kerry Postlewhite, Director of Government & Regulatory Affairs for Cruelty Free International; Gill Lee, Sir David’s House of Commons’ Office Manager; and Claire Fletcher, Cruelty Free International’s Director of Sustainable Business Programmes, at Portcullis House in Westminster, London.
Cruelty Free International has posthumously awarded the Lord Houghton Award for outstanding service to animal welfare to Sir David Amess, for his dedicated work to end animal research and testing in the UK.
Sir David, Conservative MP for Southend West who was tragically murdered on 15 October 2021, worked tirelessly for animals.
Named ‘MP of the Month’ by Cruelty Free International in May 2016, Sir David was committed to working towards a world in which nobody wants or believes we need to experiment on animals. Interviewed at the time, Sir David said: It is clear to me that for so many of my constituents, animals quite literally are their lives, they are everything to so many people.”
Kerry Postlewhite, Director of Government & Regulatory Affairs for Cruelty Free International and Claire Fletcher, Cruelty Free International’s Director of Sustainable Business Programmes, presented the award to Gill Lee, Sir David’s House of Commons’ Office Manager, at Portcullis House in Westminster, London.
Ms Lee commented that fundamental to Sir David was his belief that the civilisation of a society should be judged on how it treats animals.
The Lord Houghton Award for Services to Animal Welfare was initiated in 1980 as a lasting recognition of the significant contribution made by Lord Houghton of Sowerby to the animal welfare movement.
Each year, the organisations involved, Animal Defenders International, Cruelty Free International, the League Against Cruel Sports and One Kind, alternate in presenting the award to an individual they deem to have given outstanding service to animal welfare.
Michelle Thew, CEO of Cruelty Free International, said: “Sir David was passionate about animal welfare and worked with Cruelty Free International over the years, including hosting a parliamentary event which called for an end to the secrecy surrounding animal experiments.
“He was a true champion of animals, including the animals who suffer in laboratories and deserves to be recognised for a lifetime of service to their protection.”
