American Humane Association: Learn How The American Humane Association Was Started
As one of the leading anti-cruelty
organizations in this country, the American Humane Association is dedicated to
the prevention of mistreatment of animals.
The American Humane Association was
organized in 1877 through the cooperative efforts of the 26 existing animal and
child protection agencies. The AHA was
formed as a federation to represent its members at the national level in dealing
with national problems of cruelty to children and animals.
The organization sought to secure passage
of federal anti-cruelty laws and a law on the interstate transport of
livestock, and has continued to encourage similar federal legislation to this
day. The AHA secured passage of a law regulating interstate transportation of
livestock in 1878, but it was not well enforced. Although rewritten in 1906, it
only applied to shipment of animals by rail or boat, since trucks and airplanes
were nonexistent.
Today, there are regulations within the act
which permit the Department of Agriculture to control humane housing, care and
feeding of animals in national and international shipment so regulation can now
be imposed on air freight. Next came the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958,
effective in 1960. This effects the sale of slaughtered animals will meet to
any agencies for by the government.
Gifts From The Humane Society
How Many Other Organizations Are In The
Humane Field, And What Are They?
The very first organization which was
incorporated to prevent cruelty to animals was the SPCA (Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). In the late 1860s and 1970s, their basic
purpose was the prevention of cruelty to horses (working and pleasure) and
livestock. Then, as they developed, the child protection movement came along and
the groups were called the SPCC.
As we got into the 1880s, a number of
organizations in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, in the mid-west were
started. And because both child and animal anti-cruelty interests existed, they
took the name of “Humane Society”. Originally, the Humane Society included both
the SPCC and the SPCA.
Toward the end of the century, in the early
1900s, women who were involved in the agencies formed auxiliaries and branches.
They were concerned with the pet population; dogs and cats, and also with animal shelter work. One of the
first was the Morris Animal Refuge in
Philadelphia and the Animal Rescue League of Boston, where the official
purpose was to run an animal shelter and home for stray pets.
Happy Dog Hoody
Happy Dog Hoody
During the first decade of the century, up
until the present time, these organizations combined their activities (getting
into educational work with children and trying to help the stray animals).
There ended up being several agencies with a variety of names, most of which
started with an interest in pet animals and were generally designated animal
rescue or refuge leagues.
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