humane society

{{short description|Group that aims to stop human or animal suffering due to cruelty or other reasons}}

{{about|the term describing the type of group|the American animal welfare organization|Humane Society of the United States|the British lifesaving organization|Royal Humane Society}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}

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).

File:Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.jpg in Boston, Massachusetts, was founded in 1868 and is the second-oldest humane society in the United States{{cite web |url=http://www.mspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aboutus_About_the_MSPCA&abouthomelink |title=About the MSPCA-Angell |access-date=August 2, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080731093849/http://www.mspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aboutus_About_the_MSPCA&abouthomelink |archive-date=July 31, 2008 }} About the MSPCA-Angell]]

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.Barbara Pertzel, For All Creatures: A History of RSPCA Victoria (Burwood East, Victoria: RSPCA Victoria, 2006), p 5. {{ISBN|0 646 46078 1}} This was followed by New South Wales in 1873;{{Cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13321316|title=The Sydney Morning Herald.|date=July 11, 1873|pages=4|via=Trove|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=August 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831072907/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13321316|url-status=live}} South Australia in 1875;Wallace B. Budd, Hear The Other Side: The RSPCA in South Australia 1875-1988 (Hawthorndene, South Australia: Investigator Press, 1988); also see [http://www.rspcasa.org.au/about/history/ rspcasa.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701021705/http://www.rspcasa.org.au/about/history/ |date=July 1, 2017 }} Tasmania in 1878;{{Cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8965649|title=PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.|date=July 20, 1878|pages=2|via=Trove|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=August 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831072907/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8965649|url-status=live}} Queensland in 1883;{{Cite web|url=https://www.rspcaqld.org.au/who-we-are/our-history|title=History of RSPCA | Animal Welfare in Queensland|website=RSPCA Queensland|access-date=June 5, 2017|archive-date=March 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330202720/http://www.rspcaqld.org.au/who-we-are/our-history|url-status=live}} Western Australia in 1892;{{cite web|url=https://www.rspcawa.asn.au/about/history.php|title=HISTORY OF THE RSPCA IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA|access-date=June 5, 2017|archive-date=February 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219011709/https://www.rspcawa.asn.au/about/history.php|url-status=live}} Australian Capital Territory in 1955 and Darwin in 1965.

The Royal Warrant was given to the WA SPCA in 1920,see time-line at [https://www.rspcawa.asn.au/about/history.php%20rspcawa.org rspcawa.org]{{Dead link|date=June 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} followed by NSW SPCA in 1923,"Talk of the Week. Jubilee of RSPCA" Table Talk, [http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146568944/17434674 15 March 1923, p 9] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006013309/http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/146568944/17434674 |date=October 6, 2017 }} South Australia in 1937,Budd, Hear The Other Side, pp 94-95 Queensland in 1955,{{Cite web|url=https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/qld/biogs/QE00502b.htm|title=Royal Queensland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty - Organisation - Find & Connect - Queensland|first=The University of Melbourne and Australian Catholic University|last=Find & Connect Web Resource Project|website=www.findandconnect.gov.au|access-date=June 5, 2017|archive-date=October 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006013249/https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/qld/biogs/QE00502b.htm|url-status=live}} Tasmania in 1956See [http://search.archives.tas.gov.au/default.aspx?detail=1&type=A&id=NG00647 Tasmanian Government Archives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171006013145/http://search.archives.tas.gov.au/default.aspx?detail=1&type=A&id=NG00647 |date=October 6, 2017 }} and Victoria in 1956.See Pertzel, For All Creatures, p 97; also see [http://www.rspcavic.org/about-us/history/ rspcavic.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606133853/http://rspcavic.org/about-us/history/ |date=June 6, 2017 }}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.rspca.org.au/what-we-do/about-us/our-history.html |title=Our history |publisher=RSPCA Australia |access-date=October 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111223511/http://www.rspca.org.au/what-we-do/about-us/our-history.html |archive-date=November 11, 2011 }}

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 Humane Canada, formerly named the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies.{{cite web|url=http://www.animalink.ab.ca/LivingWithAnimals/indexanimalprotection.htm|title=Retrieved on 2008-03-24|website=animalink.ab.ca|access-date=March 24, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103013710/http://www.animalink.ab.ca/LivingWithAnimals/indexanimalprotection.htm|archive-date=November 3, 2007|url-status=dead}}

New Zealand

Early British settlers brought with them the laws of England, and the British Cruelty to Animals Act 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.whangareispca.co.nz/spcawork.html#history|title=Work of the SPCA - Whangarei SPCA|website=www.whangareispca.co.nz|access-date=March 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311170450/http://www.whangareispca.co.nz/spcawork.html#history|archive-date=March 11, 2008|url-status=dead}}

The Humane Society of New Zealand was established as a registered charity in 1975.{{cite web|url=http://www.petsonthenet.co.nz/humanesociety|title=Lost Pet |website=www.petsonthenet.co.nz|access-date=March 22, 2008|archive-date=April 17, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417204338/http://www.petsonthenet.co.nz/humanesociety|url-status=live}}

United Kingdom

The first humane societies were founded in the United Kingdom. They included the Royal Humane Society in 1774,http://www.royalhumanesociety.org.uk/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219113119/http://www.royalhumanesociety.org.uk/ |date=February 19, 2008 }} Retrieved on March 21, 2008 the Glasgow Humane Society in 1790,{{cite web|url=http://www.glasgowhumanesociety.org/charity.html|title=Retrieved on 2008-03-23|website=glasgowhumanesociety.org|access-date=March 22, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908091442/http://www.glasgowhumanesociety.org/charity.html|archive-date=September 8, 2008|url-status=dead}} and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in 1824.[http://www.animallaw.info/historical/articles/arukrspcahist.htm History of the RSPCA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716040730/http://animallaw.info/historical/articles/arukrspcahist.htm |date=July 16, 2014 }} Retrieved on March 22, 2008

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. The Glasgow Humane Society is a prevention, rescue, and recovery group set up to cover the waterways of Greater Glasgow, Scotland.{{Cite web|title=Glasgow, Humane Society {{!}} Canmore|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/269772/glasgow-humane-society|access-date=May 23, 2021|website=canmore.org.uk|language=en}}

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){{Cite web|title=OSCR {{!}} Charity Details|url=https://www.oscr.org.uk/about-charities/search-the-register/charity-details?number=SC006467|access-date=May 23, 2021|website=www.oscr.org.uk}} and the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA).{{Cite web|title=Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals {{!}} Eurogroup for Animals|url=https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/ulster-society-prevention-cruelty-animals|access-date=May 23, 2021|website=www.eurogroupforanimals.org}} 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.{{Cite web|title=PeopLes Dispensary For Sick Animals|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/8511417Z:LN|access-date=May 23, 2021|website=www.bloomberg.com}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_home|title=ASPCA|website=ASPCA|access-date=March 24, 2008|archive-date=December 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211064340/http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_home|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.mspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename%3Daboutus_MSPCA_Angell_Historical_Timeline |title=MSPCA-Angell: MSPCA-Angell Historical Timeline |access-date=August 3, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091117113035/http://www.mspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aboutus_MSPCA_Angell_Historical_Timeline |archive-date=November 17, 2009 }} MSPCA Historical Timeline 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.{{Cite journal|last1=Parkes|first1=Patrick|last2=Sichel|first2=Jacques|date=January 1, 1979|title=The Humane Society of the United States 1954-1979: Twenty-Five Years of Growth and Achievement|url=https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/ebooks/28|journal=EBooks}}

= National vs. local humane societies =

Humane societies in the U.S. are independent of similarly named national organizations such as the HSUS{{Cite web|url=https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/shelters-and-rescues-faq|title=Shelters and rescues FAQ|website=The Humane Society of the United States|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=April 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200421164737/https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/shelters-and-rescues-faq|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hsus-and-aspca-are-not-yo_b_7882932|title=HSUS and ASPCA Are Not Your Local Animal Shelter (and Likely Not Helping the Animals in Your Local Animal Shelter)|date=July 28, 2015|website=HuffPost|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=August 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831072906/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hsus-and-aspca-are-not-yo_b_7882932|url-status=live}} or ASPCA.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenonprofittimes.com/npt_articles/animal-groups-barking-at-aspca/|title=Animal Groups Barking At ASPCA|website=The NonProfit Times|access-date=August 31, 2020|archive-date=August 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831072911/https://www.thenonprofittimes.com/npt_articles/animal-groups-barking-at-aspca/|url-status=live}} 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,{{cite web|url=http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/financials/2009-form-990.pdf|title=HSUS 2009 IRS Form 990, Sched. I-1, Pages 31-74|website=humanesociety.org|access-date=November 13, 2010|archive-date=September 30, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930184611/http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/financials/2009-form-990.pdf|url-status=live}} training of animal care personnel, standards of care, and evaluation services.{{cite web |url=http://www.animalsheltering.org/programs_and_services |title=How We Help |publisher=Animal Sheltering |access-date=April 12, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108171921/http://www.animalsheltering.org/programs_and_services/ |archive-date=November 8, 2011 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/animal_rescue |title=Animal Rescue : The Humane Society of the United States |publisher=Humanesociety.org |date=March 28, 2014 |access-date=April 12, 2014 |archive-date=August 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831072906/https://www.humanesociety.org/animal-rescue |url-status=live }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.animalsheltering.org/about_us/ |title=Who We Are |publisher=Animal Sheltering |access-date=April 12, 2014 |archive-date=November 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114172153/http://www.animalsheltering.org/about_us/ |url-status=live }}

The HSUS provides national promotion of shelters and animal adoptions, alone or in partnership with other animal protection charities.{{cite web|url=http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/financials/2009-form-990.pdf|title=HSUS 2009 IRS Form 990, Sched. O, Page 89|website=humanesociety.org|access-date=November 13, 2010|archive-date=September 30, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930184611/http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/financials/2009-form-990.pdf|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite web|title=December 5 is the tenth annual Celebrate Shelter Pets Day|url=https://www.humanesociety.org/news/december-5-tenth-annual-celebrate-shelter-pets-day|access-date=May 23, 2021|website=The Humane Society of the United States|language=en}}

See also

References

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