Humane society

This article is about the term describing the type of group. For the American animal welfare organization, see the Humane Society of the United States. For the British lifesaving organization, see Royal Humane Society.

A humane society is a group that aims to stop cruelty to animals. In many countries, the term is used mostly for societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA). In the United Kingdom, and historically in the United States, such societies provide waterway rescue, prevention and recovery services, or may give awards for saving human life (e.g., Glasgow Humane Society and Massachusetts Humane Society).

MSPCA-Angell in Boston, Massachusetts, was founded in 1868 and is the second-oldest humane society in the United States^[1]

Australia

The first Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), based on the British Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), was set up in Victoria in 1871.^[2] This was followed by New South Wales in 1873;^[3] South Australia in 1875;^[4] Tasmania in 1878;^[5] Queensland in 1883;^[6] Western Australia in 1892;^[7] Australian Capital Territory in 1955 and Darwin in 1965. The Royal Warrant was given to the WA SPCA in 1920,^[8] followed by NSW SPCA in 1923,^[9] South Australia in 1937,^[10] Queensland in 1955,^[11] Tasmania in 1956^[12] and Victoria in 1956.^[13]

The national organisation, RSPCA Australia, was formed in 1981 to give a national voice on policy matters and advise the federal government on animal welfare issues.^[14]

Canada

The first SPCA in Canada was the Canadian SPCA founded in Montreal in 1869. The other societies developed on a regional basis and now 123 societies are represented at a federal level by the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies.^[15]

New Zealand

Early British settlers brought with them the laws of England, and the English Protection of Animals Act of 1835 was adopted by New Zealand. This was replaced by New Zealand's own Protection of Animals Act in 1878, and the first SPCA was formed in Dunedin in 1882 quickly followed by other societies. In 1933, all the societies amalgamated as a federation and this grew into the present day's Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.^[16]

The Humane Society of New Zealand was established as a registered charity in 1975.^[17]

United Kingdom

The first humane societies were founded in the United Kingdom. They included the Royal Humane Society in 1774,^[18] the Glasgow Humane Society in 1790,^[19] and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in 1824.^[20]

The Royal Humane Society is a charity that grants awards for acts of bravery in the saving of human lives, and for the restoration of life by resuscitation. Since its foundation, the society has given more than 85,000 awards.^[18] The Glasgow Humane Society is a prevention, rescue, and recovery group set up to cover the waterways of Greater Glasgow, Scotland.^[21]

The main animal humane societies in the UK are the RSPCA and its offshoots, the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA)^[22] and the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA).^[23] There is also the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), founded in 1917, to treat the sick and injured animals of the poor, and numerous other animal rescue charities for wildlife, working animals, and domestic pets.^[24]

United States

The first SPCA in the United States was the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), founded by Henry Bergh in New York City in 1866.^[25] Two years later, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded in Boston by a group that included George Thorndike Angell, John Quincy Adams II, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Saltonstall, and William Gordon Weld.^[1][26] Examples of other national, nonsheltering humane animal societies include: American Humane Association, which was founded in 1877 as a network of local organizations to prevent cruelty to children and animals. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was established in 1954.^[27]

National vs. local humane societies

Humane societies in the U.S. are independent of similarly named national organizations such as the HSUS^[28][29] or ASPCA.^[30] While local organizations are concerned primarily with sheltering, adoption, and euthanasia of animals, these national organizations coordinate and address broader issues beyond the scope or resources of the smaller, independent groups.

The HSUS does not operate, control, or fund local humane societies. It does provide support through grants,^[31] training of animal care personnel, standards of care, and evaluation services.^[32] The HSUS frequently works with shelters in disaster operations and large-scale animal rescues, assisting in the evaluation, triage, handling, transport and care of rescued animals.^[33] The HSUS maintains the animalsheltering.com website for animal care professionals, and publishes a bi-monthly magazine, Animal Sheltering to which 12,300 shelters and rescue groups subscribe.^[34]

The HSUS provides national promotion of shelters and animal adoptions, alone or in partnership with other animal protection charities.^[35] The Shelter Pet Project is a joint venture of the HSUS, Maddie's Fund, and the Ad Council to promote awareness of shelters and encourage adoptions.^[36]

See also

• Animal shelter
• Animal welfare

References

1. . Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved August 2, 2008. About the MSPCA-Angell
2. Barbara Pertzel, For All Creatures: A History of RSPCA Victoria (Burwood East, Victoria: RSPCA Victoria, 2006), p 5. ISBN 0 646 46078 1
3. "The Sydney Morning Herald". July 11, 1873. p. 4. from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020 – via Trove.
4. Wallace B. Budd, Hear The Other Side: The RSPCA in South Australia 1875-1988 (Hawthorndene, South Australia: Investigator Press, 1988); also see rspcasa.org July 1, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
5. "PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS". July 20, 1878. p. 2. from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020 – via Trove.
6. "History of RSPCA | Animal Welfare in Queensland". RSPCA Queensland. from the original on March 30, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
7. "HISTORY OF THE RSPCA IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA". from the original on February 19, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
8. see time-line at rspcawa.org^{[permanent dead link]}
9. "Talk of the Week. Jubilee of RSPCA" Table Talk, 15 March 1923, p 9 October 6, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
10. Budd, Hear The Other Side, pp 94-95
11. Find & Connect Web Resource Project, The University of Melbourne and Australian Catholic University. "Royal Queensland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty - Organisation - Find & Connect - Queensland". www.findandconnect.gov.au. from the original on October 6, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
12. See Tasmanian Government Archives October 6, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
13. See Pertzel, For All Creatures, p 97; also see rspcavic.org June 6, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
14. . RSPCA Australia. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
15. . animalink.ab.ca. Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
16. . www.whangareispca.co.nz. Archived from the original on March 11, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
17. "Lost Pet". www.petsonthenet.co.nz. from the original on April 17, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
18. http://www.royalhumanesociety.org.uk/ February 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2008-03-21
19. . glasgowhumanesociety.org. Archived from the original on September 8, 2008. Retrieved March 22, 2008.
20. History of the RSPCA July 16, 2014, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2008-03-22
21. "Glasgow, Humane Society | Canmore". canmore.org.uk. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
22. "OSCR | Charity Details". www.oscr.org.uk. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
23. "Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals | Eurogroup for Animals". www.eurogroupforanimals.org. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
24. "PeopLes Dispensary For Sick Animals". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved May 23, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
25. "ASPCA". ASPCA. from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
26. . Archived from the original on November 17, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2008. MSPCA Historical Timeline
27. Parkes, Patrick; Sichel, Jacques (January 1, 1979). "The Humane Society of the United States 1954-1979: Twenty-Five Years of Growth and Achievement". EBooks.
28. "Shelters and rescues FAQ". The Humane Society of the United States. from the original on April 21, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
29. "HSUS and ASPCA Are Not Your Local Animal Shelter (and Likely Not Helping the Animals in Your Local Animal Shelter)". HuffPost. July 28, 2015. from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
30. "Animal Groups Barking At ASPCA". The NonProfit Times. from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
31. "HSUS 2009 IRS Form 990, Sched. I-1, Pages 31-74" (PDF). humanesociety.org. (PDF) from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
32. . Animal Sheltering. Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
33. "Animal Rescue : The Humane Society of the United States". Humanesociety.org. March 28, 2014. from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
34. "Who We Are". Animal Sheltering. from the original on November 14, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
35. "HSUS 2009 IRS Form 990, Sched. O, Page 89" (PDF). humanesociety.org. (PDF) from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
36. "December 5 is the tenth annual Celebrate Shelter Pets Day". The Humane Society of the United States. Retrieved May 23, 2021.

External links

  Media related to Animal welfare organizations at Wikimedia Commons