Rod Preece

Rodney John Charles Preece (August 15, 1939 – July 22, 2021) was an English-Canadian political philosopher and historian of animal rights and vegetarianism. He was professor emeritus in the Department of Political Science at Wilfrid Laurier University. Preece authored and edited 19 books on topics including animal rights and welfare, vegetarianism, German politics, socialization in Europe, and political theory.

Biography
Rodney John Charles Preece was born on 15 August 1939, in Cheadle Hulme, England. He earned a BA in Philosophy and PhD in Political Science from the University of Leicester. Preece went on to teach at the University of Surrey and University of Leicester. He moved to Canada in 1969, to lecture for a year at the University of Waterloo; he later accepted a full-time position at the university. In 1973, he joined Wilfrid Laurier University. He was later Maurice Young Invited Research Scholar in the Centre for Applied Ethics at the University of British Columbia.

At the start of his career, Preece's work focused on European politics, especially German politics, before moving on to political philosophy and ideology, particularly conservatism. Starting in the 1990s and for the remainder of his career, he focused entirely on animal rights and welfare.

Preece authored and edited 19 books. His book Animals and Nature: Cultural Myths, Cultural Realities, was short-listed for the Harold Adams Innis Prize, the Raymond Klibansky Prize for the best book in the humanities and named a Choice Distinguished Academic Title.

Preece served on the board of directors of the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and served on the executive boards for the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and the University of Guelph's Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare. He was also vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies. Preece was also on the board of the Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA).

For many years, Preece owned an antique store in Waterloo, Ontario. He was married to Lorna Chamberlain, who predeceased him; they had two children.

In 2013 Preece moved back to Cheadle Hulme after reuniting with his past girlfriend Janet Penny. He died there at the age of 81, on July 22, 2021.

Selected publications

 * Animal Welfare and Human Values (with Lorna Chamberlain; Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1993)
 * Animals and Nature: Cultural Myths, Cultural Realities (1998)
 * Awe for the Tiger, Love for the Lamb: A Chronicle of Sensibility to Animals (2002)
 * William Hamilton Drummond's Rights of Animals and Man's Obligation to Treat Them with Humanity (edited with Chien-hui Li; The Edwin Mellen Press, 2005)
 * Brute Souls, Happy Beasts and Evolution: The Historical Status of Animals (2005)
 * Sins of the Flesh: A History of Ethical Vegetarian Thought (2008)
 * Animal Sensibility and Inclusive Justice in the Age of Bernard Shaw (2012)