... or what the members say...

"... One of the surprising facets of (Queen) Victoria's character was a sympathy for the suffering of animals... When she discovered some of the awful truths about vivisection, she wrote to Disraeli asking him to stop it, and he, so much in sympathy with her, immediately set about bringing in a Bill which would at least help to control what he described as 'this horrible practice'. She also heard with disgust of the barbarities of seal slaughter, and Disraeli, by way of the Board of Trade, obliged her by establishing a close season for the seal fishery..."
- Excerpt from Mrs Dizzy by Mollie Hardwick kindly submitted by E.M. Shaw (Wanganui).