The RSPCA Past and Present

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. It is funded by voluntary donations and is one of the largest charities in the UK. Since its founding as the SPCA in 1824 it has inspired the creation of similar, but independent organisations in other countries including the Scottish SPCA, RSPCA Australia and the ASPCA in the USA.

The RSPCA was founded by a group of twenty-two reformers led by Richard Martin MP (who would thereby earn the nickname Humanity Dick), William Wilberforce MP and the Reverend Arthur Broome originally as a society to support the working of Richard Martin's Act. This Act had been passed in Parliament on 22 July 1822 and was against cruelty to farm animals, particularly cattle. The group assembled at the "Old Slaughters" Coffee House in London to create a society with the will and authority to enforce the new law. The SPCA, the first animal welfare society in any country was thus born and was granted its royal status by Queen Victoria in 1840.

At first the organisation did not employ Inspectors. A committee inspected the markets, slaughterhouses and the conduct of city coachmen. Rev Arthur Broome, from his own funds, employed a Mr Wheeler and his assistant, Charles Teasdall. In 1824 they brought sixty three offenders before the Courts.

In the late 1830s the Society began the tradition of the Inspector, which is the image best known of the RSPCA today. By 1841 there were five Inspectors, each paid a guinea a week, based in London, who travelled to various parts of the country bringing suspected offenders before the Courts. News of the work of the Society spread outside London. By 1842, campaigners in Bath, Brighton, Bristol, Coventry and Scarborough had all requested the appointment of an inspector of their own. With the increasing number of donations and bequests the Society was attracting, there were funds to expand beyond the capital.

Regional inspectors were appointed, with local campaigners promising to raise £20 a year towards 'their' inspector's wages. This development created the nucleus of a national network of 175 branches in England and Wales that exists today. These branches run a further 38 clinics and 33 animal centres. In addition to the branch run establishments there is one other animal centre run by a trust and another run by a charitable company. There are now 323 uniformed RSPCA inspectors and 146 Animal Collection Officers (ACOs) in England and Wales working tirelessly for animals in distress. In 2005 inspectors investigated 110,841 animal cruelty complaints which resulted in 2,071 convictions.

RSPCA lobbied parliament throughout the 19th century resulting in a number of pieces of legislation. The Cruelty to Animals Act 1835 amended Martin's Act and outlawed baiting. In 1876 the Cruelty to Animals Act was passed to control animal experimentation. In 1911 Parliament passed Sir George Greenwood's Animal Protection Act.

Since then the RSPCA and the other independent SPCA groups around the world have continued to play an active role, both in the creation of animal welfare legislation and in its enforcement. Among its campaigns, the RSPCA has continued to fight for the abolition of hunting with dogs in the UK, an area that has recently seen progress being made in the form of the 2004 Hunting Act which partially outlaws the 'sport'.

For more information about the RSPCA please visit the main organisation's website by clicking on the logo in the left-hand column.

Sources - [http://www.rspca.org.uk/], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society_for_the_Prevention_of_Cruelty_to_Animals]