The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales which promotes animal activism. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest animal welfare organisation in the world, and is one of the largest charities in the UK. The organisation also does international outreach work across Europe, Africa and Asia.
The charity's work has inspired the creation of similar groups in other jurisdictions, starting with the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (founded in 1836), and including the Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1839), the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1840), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1866), the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1882), the Singapore Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1959) and various groups which eventually came together as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Australia (1981), the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) (1997) – formerly known as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong) (1903–1997).
Despite common belief, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is not considered to operate in a similar manner or having been inspired by RSPCA as the former is a politically driven - often considered radical - group aiming to change legislation where as RSPCA operates as a reactive, responsive rescue and protection organisation while still establishing campaigns for improvements for animal welfare in relation to laws existing laws and common practices. Despite this the two entities have been known to work in tandem on some of the publicized campaigns.
The emergence of the RSPCA has its roots in the intellectual climate of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Britain where opposing views were exchanged in print concerning the use of animals. The harsh use and maltreatment of animals in hauling carriages, scientific experiments (including vivisection), and cultural amusements of fox-hunting, bull-baiting and cock fighting were among some of the matters that were debated by social reformers, clergy, and parliamentarians. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there was an unsuccessful attempt by Sir William Pulteney on 18 April 1800 to pass legislation through the British parliament to ban the practice of bull-baiting. In 1809, Lord Erskine (1750–1823) introduced an anti-cruelty bill which was passed in the House of Lords but was defeated in a vote in the House of Commons. Erskine in his parliamentary speech combined the vocabulary of animal rights and trusteeship with a theological appeal to biblical passages opposing cruelty. A later attempt to pass anti-cruelty legislation was spearheaded by the Irish parliamentarian Richard Martin and in 1822 an anti-cruelty to cattle bill (sometimes called Martin's Act) became law.
Formation of the SPCA and royal patronage
Martin's Act was supported by various social reformers who were not parliamentarians, and the efforts of the Reverend Arthur Broome (1779–1837) to create a voluntary organisation to promote kindness toward animals resulted in the founding of an informal network. Broome canvassed opinions in letters that were published or summarised in various periodicals in 1821. Broome organised a meeting and extended invitations to various reformers that included parliamentarians, clergy and lawyers. The meeting was held on Wednesday 16 June 1824 in Old Slaughter's Coffee House, London. The meeting was chaired by Thomas Fowell Buxton MP (1786–1845) and the resolution to establish the society was voted on. Among the others who were present as founding members were Sir James Mackintosh MP, Richard Martin, William Wilberforce, Basil Montagu, John Ashley Warre, the Rev. George Bonner, the Rev. George Avery Hatch, Sir James Graham, John Gilbert Meymott, William Mudford, and Lewis Gompertz. The organisation was founded as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Broome was appointed as the society's first honorary secretary. The foundation is marked by a plaque on the modern day building at 77–78 St Martin's Lane.
The society was the first animal welfare charity to be founded in the world. In 1824, it brought 63 offenders before the courts. Princess Victoria became the society's patron in 1835, and, as Queen, granted its royal status in 1840 to become the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as it is today.
The origins of the role of the RSPCA inspector stem from Broome's efforts in 1822 to personally bring to court some individuals against whom charges of cruelty were heard. Broome employed and personally paid the salary for an inspector to monitor the abuse of animals at the Smithfield Market. The inspector hired by Broome, Charles Wheeler, served in the capacity of an inspector from 1824 to 1826 but his services were terminated when the society's revenue was exceeded by its debts. The accrued debts led to a suspension of operations when Broome as the society's guarantor for debts was imprisoned. When operations resumed there was some divided opinions in the committees that steered the society about employing inspectors, which resulted in a resolution in 1832 to discontinue employing an inspector. The permanent appointment of a salaried inspector was settled in 1838, and the inspector is the image best known of the organisation today.
Broome's experience of bankruptcy and prison created difficulties for him afterwards and he stood aside as the society's first secretary in 1828 and was succeeded by the co-founding member Lewis Gompertz. Unlike the other founder members who were Christians, Gompertz was a Jew and despite his abilities in campaigning against cruelty, fund-raising and administrative skills, tensions emerged between him and other committee members, due to Gompertz's approach, considered very radical at the time, in opposition to hunting and other forms of using animals he regarded as abusive. The tensions led to the convening of a meeting in early 1832 which led to Gompertz resigning. His resignation coincided with a resolution adopted in 1832 that "the proceedings of the Society were entirely based on the Christian faith and Christian principles."
Alongside the society's early efforts to prosecute offenders who maltreated animals, there were efforts made to promote kindly attitudes toward animals through the publication of books and tracts as well as the fostering of annual sermons preached against cruelty on behalf of the society. The first annual anti-cruelty sermon that was preached on behalf of the society was delivered by Rev Dr Rudge in March 1827 at the Whitechapel Church. In 1865 the RSPCA looked for a way to consolidate and further influence public opinion on animal welfare by encouraging an annual "Animal Sunday" church service where clergy would preach sermons on anti-cruelty themes and the very first sermon was delivered in London on 9 July 1865 by the Rev. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815–1881), the Dean of Westminster. The "Animal Sunday" service became an annual event in different church gatherings in England, which was later adopted by churches in Australia and New Zealand in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and it was the forerunner of the "pet blessing" services that emerged in the 1970s. In the twentieth century the RSPCA widened the horizons in the public domain by promoting an annual "animal welfare week".
The RSPCA also had annual accounts published in newspapers, like The Londoner, where the secretary would discuss improvements, report cases, and remind the public to watch over their animals' health.
During the second half of 1837, the society sponsored an essay-writing competition with a benefactor offering a prize of one hundred pounds for the winning entry. The terms of the competition stipulated: