History of the ASPCA
ASPCA ~ American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was the first animal welfare organization formed in the United States
Founded by New York City resident Henry Bergh in April, 1866 who modeled the organization by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals RSPCA in Britain, "believed that animals are entitled to kind and respectful treatment at the hands of humans, and must be protected under the law."
WHO IS BERGH?
Henry Bergh was a wealthy man who liked wearing silk hats and fancy vests. He loved the opera, and he traveled a lot in Europe. When he was 50, President Abraham Lincoln asked him to go to Russia as a diplomat. There, Bergh saw a man whipping a horse. He asked a policeman to stop the beating, but the policeman said the man owned the horse and could do anything he wanted to it.
After leaving Russia, Bergh went to England, where he met the president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. This organization had the power to stop people from abusing animals and also the power to arrest people and take them to court. Bergh knew he had to do this in the United States as well.
Soon he seemed to be everywhere at once, investigating cruelty, closing down dog pits and rooster fights, making dairy farmers clean up their barns. His battle to stop cruelty to animals became known as "Bergh's War."
Bergh made a lot of people angry, but this did not stop him. In fact instead of getting mad he preached kindness. He felt it would be a greater triumph to plant kindness in people's hearts.
The ASPCA was active, but it was poor. Then an old man sent for Bergh. When Bergh entered the shabby little home, the old man said, "I've been reading about you in the papers. I like what you are doing for animals. I am ill, and I know I am dying. I'm going to leave everything in my will to the ASPCA."
Bergh thanked the old man, without expecting his gift to be of much help. But after the man died, Bergh found out he had been a millionaire who had lived as a miser. Now the ASPCA could move out of a small rental room into a building of its own. Now it could grow.
Within five years, Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals had sprung up in 19 states and Canada.
Early Efforts
The early efforts of the organization focused on the plight of the overworked horses.
Horses, were starved, denied regular watering, beaten, and were made to work even in extremes of weather.
If mules or horses were no longer fit to pull their carts they would be released into the streets to starve.
From its earliest days, in addition to horses, the ASPCA intervened on behalf of animals of all sorts as well. Bergh witnessed abuse to so many different animals and he wanted it to stop.
Many animals were shipped into the city for the butcher markets, animals used in circuses and various exhibits and displays, and of course the many homeless dogs and cats that roamed the city.
Early Challenges
The first challenge was convincing people that there was actually a law to prevent the mistreatment of animals, and that the ASPCA agents had the authority to enforce that law.
Bergh would literally walk the streets of New York looking and searching for animals to rescue. One such example according to popular legend, was when Bergh was taking one of his walks,he stopped a wagon driver from beating an emaciated, exhausted workhorse. He berated the driver for mistreating the animal and told him about the new anti-cruelty law. He then unharnessed the horse and led it away to be cared for, cheered on by bystanders.
Achievements
- 1866 ASPCA was the only organization in North American dedicated to animal protection.
- 1867 Early achievements included a horse-drawn ambulance for injured horses
- 1873 Bergh invented the mechanical pigeon as an alternative to live pigeon shoots
- 1875 Bergh invented a sling to lift downed horses and those that had fallen into rivers
- 1894 Assumed the job of caring for New York City's stray and unwanted animals, this was previously done by NY City government
In the late 19th century and into the early 20th, dogs were used to power treadmills in small factories. These animals were generally turned loose at night to scavenge food and seek shelter as best they could. They were abandoned when they became too weak, ill, or old to work. Animal control consisted of rounding up and caging the animals. The cages were lowered into rivers or ponds so that the animals drowned. The ASPCA established shelters, the first in 1894, where animals could be reclaimed or more humanely euthanized. Two other shelters were constructed the following year. The ASPCA sponsored the bill that became a law requiring working dogs to be licensed.
The Society also sought to find and confiscate dogs used in dogfighting, and to legally punish people engaged in this activity, which was so commonplace that the outcomes of prominent fights were sometimes reported in newspapers.
The city's cat population was more difficult to address. Unknown numbers of cats lived in a semi-wild or completely feral state, difficult to catch or even count.
Early 20th Century
- 1902 The first motorized horse ambulance into service, two years before any human hospital had such a vehicle.
- 1912 The Society's first veterinary facility opened offering free health services for horses, as well as veterinary care for dogs and cats.
- 1916 Started a formal humane educational program for school children. Also raised money to help care for the 934,000 horses that served in World War I
- 1920 Advanced use of anesthesia in animal surgery. A basic necessity, clean drinking water, was made available for horses by the ASPCA at public fountains throughout the city that also served cats, dogs, and people
- 1939 Inspected the 2,000 animals of exhibit at the New York World's Fair
- 1944 Started obedience training classes for dogs and their owners
- 1952 Began inspection of laboratories in New York that use animals for research-the first of its kind in the country
- 1954 Expanded its animal hospital by adding a contagious disease ward, pathology lab and Xrays
- 1958 Opened the Animalport at Kennedy International Airport to inspect and care for animals entering or leaving the country by plane
- 1961 Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital performed its first open-heart surgery on a dog
- 1966 Celebrated 100th anniversary by renaming the hospital after Henry Bergh and presenting a gold medallion to Walt Disney for his positive depiction of animals
- 1973 Adoption department began spay/neuter for ALL animals
- 1996 Started the National Animal Poison Control center, the only vet telephone service operating 24/7 365 days a year. Also that year the "Care-A-Van" mobile spay/neuter clinic started
21st Century
- 2000 First Henry Bergh book awards
- 2001 Television show Animal Planet was launched. Also that same year the ASPCA and other local animal welfare agencies pooled their resources to respond to emergencies resulting from the World Trade Center attack. The rescue team cared for over 500 animals within a week of the attack
- 2005 When Hurricanes Rita and Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, thanks to its supporters, the ASPCA was able to donate $13 million in grants to shelters and organizations that were directly affected. In the wake of these disasters it was clear that a plan was needed for emergencies and disaster readiness
- 2007 "Mission Orange" was launched to educate the world on the importance of spay/neuter, needless euthanasia on healthy, treatable adoptable companion animals and of course adoption
ASPCA's TELEVISION COMMERCIAL HELP TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC
Continuing the Fight
The ASPCA Anti-Cruelty Center in New York City will be the very first of its kind in the world. In it, the Humane Law Enforcement department—which continues to uphold New York City’s animal cruelty laws—will work with forensics experts to help investigate and prosecute crimes against animals
Educating police officers, humane investigators, veterinarians, prosecutors and judges on how to respond to animal cruelty, including assisting in cruelty case investigations. Animal advocates fight tirelessly on state and national levels to pass laws that protect animals.
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