[I]t is our duty to cultivate humanity towards animals […] not content merely to rescue animals from pain but to leave them still more abundantly gra… - Thomas Young (animal welfare writer)

About Thomas Young (animal welfare writer)

Thomas Young (bapt. 29 December 1772 – 11 November 1835) was an English writer, theologian, educator, and Anglican clergyman. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he matriculated as a sizar in 1789, became a scholar in 1793, and graduated as the 12th Wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos of 1794. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity in 1795 and went on to serve as an Assistant Tutor, Tutor, and Senior Dean. In 1813, he was appointed Rector of Gilling East, Yorkshire, a post he held until his death in 1835. Young wrote about animal ethics, particularly in his 1798 publication An Essay on Humanity to Animals. In this work, he used Christian theology and moral philosophy to criticise cruelty to animals, arguing that animals possess sentience and should receive humane treatment and the protection of certain natural rights. He drew on scripture to condemn various common practices involving the abuse of animals and held that moral responsibility extended to non-human creatures. In addition to his writings on animals, Young published sermons and theological tracts addressing doctrines of Christian belief, including the resurrection, righteousness, and prayer.