Prof. is dead Andrzej Elżanowski – scientist, defender of animal rights

Prof. is dead Andrzej Elżanowski – scientist, defender of animal rights

The scientist's death was announced on Thursday by the Polish Society for the Protection of Animals (OTOZ). The researcher died at the age of 76. He divided his professional life between biology and activities for the humane treatment of animals.

Animals have lost their uncompromising spokesman. And we are an ally in the fight for their rights - said representatives of OTOZ.

For decades, the most important field of research of prof. Elżanowski's research was the evolution of birds, especially those living in the Mesozoic era. Together with Peter Wellnhofer, he described the relationship between birds and theropods, i.e. two-legged, carnivorous dinosaurs.

The scientist played an important role in creating animal law

Scientific knowledge of prof. Elżanowski translated it into specific actions in defense of animal rights. From 2011, he was the chairman of the Polish Ethical Society. He sat on the first National Ethical Commission for Animal Experiments and led to the introduction in Poland of a scale assessing the degree of invasiveness of research, i.e. the intensity of pain and burdensomeness of scientific experiments.

The scientist played an important role in the creation of Polish law. He was a co-author of the draft amendment to the Animal Protection Act of 2010 and the architect of the campaign against ritual slaughter without stunning.

He opposed, among other things, poor conditions in mass farms of farm animals, shelters and zoos. He supported campaigns against brutal exploitation of animals.

“He knew that an animal was not an abstract specimen.”

"I will remember him primarily as a man who took his vast biological knowledge seriously - even when it led to uncomfortable conclusions," recalls the professor on social media, Dr. Robert Maślak from the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Wrocław and a member of the State Council for Nature Conservation.

"(Prof. Elżanowski) knew that an animal is not an abstract 'specimen', an element of production or a population unit, but a being for whom its own life is important. And for decades he has consistently demanded that we also start taking this fact seriously," added Dr. Maślak.