Leaders and Followers: The People Behind Animal Advocacy

In the historical book For the Prevention of Cruelty, Diane L. Beers organizes and compiles the history of the United States Animal Advocacy Movement from 1865-1975. She highlights the successes that the movement has actually had, that have seemed to have gone unnoticed. She also discusses the effect that the movement has had on society as a whole and how much change has actually occurred. Beers gives us an overview of information that has yet to be presented to most before, and gives them the ability to understand the history behind the Prevention of Animal Cruelty in America (Beers 2006, 16). The most engaging aspect of the paper, personally, would have to be the people behind the movement. For this essay I will be focusing on the third chapter which is titled, “Leaders and Followers.” This chapter gives readers insight on the activists that created this movement and the vital female influence on the cause that helped create change. I will be summarizing Beers’ main points in the third chapter and focusing on the individuals that stand out the most throughout history. I then will reflect on those aspects of the chapter and give my personal perspective.

The Founders and Beginning

The first animal protection group started in 1866 in New York and this organization was the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). In the beginning there were just individuals with ideas. Richard P. White, S. Morris Waln, and M. Richards Muckle all had an obligation to help animals and eventually played an important role in the creation of Pennsylvania’s first animal advocacy group (Beers 2006, 25). A Boston attorney named George T. Angell, actually committed a large portion of his estate to fund educational programs to teach children the importance of their role in caring for animals (Beers 2006, 25). All of these people had the intention to make a difference, but it wasn’t until Henry Bergh that the animal rights advocacy movement really took off.

Bergh presented a very compelling and ethical argument that was difficult for opposers to refute. He wasn’t emotional about the topic, but had an internal moral obligation to defend the rights of “nonhumans” and he presented these ideas in Clinton Hall in New York City. He proposed the “Declaration of the Rights of Animals” and was met with a lot of support and it fueled him to go to the capital of New York to submit a charter for legislative approval. With the help of political connections he was able to establish the first North American animal advocacy organization and pass a law, “That the state had to classify and prosecute any act of cruelty toward any animal as a misdemeanor offense, regardless of issues of ownership” (Beers 2006, 26). This was a monumental step in ensuring justice for animals. With the creation of the ASPCA there was finally a possibility for real change to occur.

When the ASPCA was established Bergh was the president of the organization and remained as such until his death in 1988. When the organization kicked off it had a widespread effect that led many others to want to start their own groups all around the country. It also connected small initiatives that had started unknowingly of each other. This insurgence was what activists had been waiting for and it launched the beginning of the animal rights movement across the United States. Caroline Earle White wrote to the ASPCA on how to start a similar movement. She was the wife of Richard P. White and was the driving force behind his activism. This was a frequent occurrence as women had no voting power at the time but were the majority of activists on the issue.

Female Role in Animal Rights Advocacy

Beers references many times that women were the supporting force of this movement and their vital role in advocating for animal rights. There are many influential women that lead and fought for animal rights that I had never heard of before this book. Mentioned earlier, Caroline White was a very influential activist of this time period. She grew up into a family of suffragettes and abolitionists which led her to live a life of activism as well. While she had many avenues of her advocacy, the arguably most important work was with animal rights. She had serious views that led her to becoming a vegetarian and leading the boycotting of animal made commodities like fur coats. She met with Bergh and he guided her on how to begin her advocacy efforts. She joined efforts with the male Philadelphia activists to create the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA) (Beers 2006, 27).

While she was doing active and important work, there were limitations. Since she was a woman in a time with heavy gender discrimination, she had nearly no power and her husband actually presented her thoughts for her. She dedicated many hours and an immense amount of effort and was never even given a position of power. She created her own division within the PSPCA and she even established her own organization called the American Anti-Vivisection Society, which aimed to end the experimentation and testing of animals. Sadly, a man still was the president of this organization as well (Beers 2006, 26).

This consistent discrimination in these spaces caused turmoil amongst female activists and eventually led to female groups breaking away from their initial organizations. The ASPCA women’s auxiliary severed ties and created their own group called the New York Women’s League for Animals. In 1897 The women’s branch of the PSPCA also broke away and renamed themselves the Women’s Humane Society. They had independent funding and used this to their advantage by aggressively tackling the issue of animal cruelty (Beers 2006, 30). This female empowerment led others to create their own groups.

A notable figure in the PSPCA is Elizabeth Morris. She used her own home to house stray animals and searched the city with friends to find animals in need of a home. In 1874 the Women’s Branch was able to raise enough money for her to open the first animal shelter in the country, The Morris Refuge Association for Homeless and Suffering Animals. The name was later shortened to the Morris Animal Refuge and it actively worked to rehabilitate and find homes for abandoned animals (Beers 2006, 30). Many other organizations like this one arose because of the strong will that female activists had and the resistance to following common practice.

Analysis of the Chapter

Throughout analyzing this chapter of the historical book For the Prevention of Cruelty by Diane L. Beers, I have learned and discovered a lot about the individuals behind animal rights activism throughout the United States’ history. There were so many people that had such an impact on animal rights and without them animals would have none of the protections that they have today. People like Henry Bergh and Caroline White led and launched the activism that allowed for so much change to occur. Laws were passed to protect animals and organizations were formed to do even more.

Organizations like the ASPCA brought so much improvement for the animal rights issue and kickstarted many other organizations to spread the issue and bring more awareness to everyone. Also, notably there were many women who fostered immense change, but were never given the recognition they deserved. Without these aspects of history, the world as we know it would be completely different. Protecting and upholding the rights of animals is now expected and although there are still issues today, with continued action we may be able to protect every animal.

Personal Reaction

I thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning about this topic as I have always cared about and loved animals. I have always been overly protective of animals and have noticed even from a young age problems that affect animals. Hearing about the people behind the laws and the women who fought fiercely with no recognition or gain from doing so is very inspiring. Discovering the amount of female voices that were silenced was shocking and the drive that they had to still continue is admirable.

It is very heartwarming to read about so many people who cared so much about animals in such a conservative time period. For people to go out of their way and make it their life’s work to protect animal rights is amazing. I am truly grateful to have read and learned so much about these important people in animal rights history.