Celia Hammond (born 25 July 1943) is an English former

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

and

animal welfare Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...

activist who is well known as a campaigner against

fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

and for

neutering Neutering, from the Latin ('of neither sex'), is the removal of a non-human animal's sex organ, reproductive organ, either all of it or a considerably large part. The male-specific term is castration, while spaying is usually reserved for female ...

cat The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

s to control the

feral A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...

population.

Early life

Hammond was born to English parents and grew up in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, where her father was a tea taster for

Brooke Bond Brooke Bond is a brand of tea owned by Lipton Teas and Infusions, except in India, Nepal, and Indonesia where it is owned by Unilever. Brooke Bond was formerly an independent tea- trading and manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, known ...

Tea. As a teenager, Hammond became a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

Modelling career

Hammond began her modelling career at the Lucie Clayton Charm Academy in 1960 and was a graduating classmate of Jean Shrimpton. She was also the favourite model of photographer Norman Parkinson and credited the rise of her career to him. She was first under contract with Queen Magazine and then transitioned to modelling Paris collections exclusively with Norman Parkinson for a year. Later she began working for '' Vogue'', forming a close working relationship with photographer Terence Donovan. At first happy to model fur, she later became concerned about the cruelty of the fur trade and took a stand against fur. Singer/Songwriter

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

wrote "Celia Of The Seals" as a tribute to her attitude.

Celia Hammond Animal Trust

In 1986 she founded the Celia Hammond Animal Trust with the aim of opening a low-cost neutering clinic to control the feral animal population. In 1995, the trust opened London's first low-cost neuter clinic in

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

. A second clinic opened in

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

in 1999. The Celia Hammond Animal Trust also runs a sanctuary in Brede, East Sussex, for animals which need new homes. In addition to neutering animals, the clinics (and sanctuary) also help to rescue and rehome animals, and now find homes for thousands of cats each year.

Personal life

Hammond had a long-term relationship with the guitarist

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

References

External links

CHAT, The Celia Hammond Animal Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, Celia 1941 births British animal welfare workers English female models Keepers of animal sanctuaries Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Jeff Beck