We are delighted to give this year’s Lord Houghton Award to our Global Ambassador Vanessa-Mae for her amazing work to help end animal testing.

Vanessa has passionately supported our campaigns to stop the suffering of animals in laboratories across the world since becoming our Global Ambassador in 2015.

Vanessa posed with her dog Max for celebrity photographer Rankin as part of our global campaign to raise awareness about dog experiments. Since then she has worked tirelessly to promote our campaigns and spread our message worldwide.

Earlier this year, Vanessa performed in front of delegates at the United Nations for our international campaign to end cosmetics animal testing and make sure animal suffering is included in the UN’s sustainable development goals.

Vanessa-Mae said: "I am delighted to accept this award from Cruelty Free International. Animal experiments are cruel, outdated and unreliable. I look forward to continuing to work alongside Cruelty Free International to help make the public aware of the awful atrocities being committed against animals around the world.”

Michelle Thew, CEO of Cruelty Free International, presented the award to Vanessa and said: “It’s a pleasure to give the Lord Houghton Award to our Global Ambassador Vanessa-Mae. Vanessa has used her profile to help bring the issue of animal experiments to a worldwide audience. We want to thank Vanessa for her compassion and commitment and everything she has done to make this world a better place for animals in laboratories.”

The Lord Houghton Award was launched in 1980 to remember the contribution made to animal welfare by UK politician Lord Houghton. It is shared with animal protection organisations OneKind, Animal Defenders International, and League Against Cruel Sports who take turns choosing a winner. Former winners include Ricky Gervais, Linda McCartney, Bob Barker, Caroline Lucas MP and David Martin MEP.