Are we exercising Christlike stewardship over animals? (May Tripp interview)

This week’s showcased item is a video featuring Christian animal welfare advocate May Tripp. (founder of Animal Christian Concern)

May Tripp was understandably feeling quite angry when she did this 5 minute interview for YTV at our 1995 Ripon Cathedral Service! Despite mass protests, the UK Government refused to ban the live export trade, so she reluctantly suggested the export of carcasses of animals that had been slaughtered in this country instead (the lesser of two evils). The Bishop, in his sermon, seemed to side with the farmers and exporters, who were angry that we were praying for animals! However, he did later write to apologise to us. In our ‘ACC Newsletter’ May wrote:

“The ‘Church Times’ carried an article headed, “Row Brews Over Animal Service”. The article then explained that in our Service there would be prayer for animals exported live and for those that are factory farmed. It gave, for ACC, my own views on live exports, expressed a concern of Bishop Malcolm Menin, which suggested that our anxieties about live exports might be overstated, and gave comments from farmers. “My hackles rise, as a farmer, at the unfairness of the way we’re being treated …” said one; and a spokesman for the NFU claimed that live animal transport was a legal trade but admitted that it was a complex issue which “exercised the farmers of Britain greatly”.

Within 24 hours I was receiving telephone calls from the media, which continued for the next three weeks and eventually I had spoken at length to, or given taped recordings to, Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post, Northern Echo, Radio York, Radio Leeds, Premier Christian Radio, London, Tyne Tees TV, Yorkshire Television, Radio Scotland Religious Broadcasting (which was broadcast by co-operation with Radio Leeds) and perhaps most unexpectedly of all I spent almost an hour on the phone – half way through my washing up and in rubber gloves as I remember – to an impeccably spoken reporter from the Church of Sweden Newspaper who went into the minutest detail of every aspect of our work. One result of this media interest was a ‘Five Minutes’ production for Yorkshire Television which was filmed at our Ripon Cathedral Service and which was based largely on the issue of live exports.

The astounding aspect about all this media interest was that at the centre of it was controversy about PRAYER! As the Yorkshire Post reported it:

“Farmers Angry Over Prayer For Animals”! How often it is said that prayer is a non-activity leading to nothing? Well it certainly led to something this summer and a result of the controversy was that a major part of the ACC ‘Alpha and Omega’ Prayer, described by the Yorkshire Post as “controversial”, was printed in secular news items and read out on radio! NFU spokesman, Robin Craddock, referring to our ACC Intercessions said angrily: “It’s a red rag to a bull!” And what was he so angry about?

Our prayer: “Give us, O God, the penitence to raise your suffering creatures before you for your justice, mercy and blessing.”