Robbers lay in wait for sailors stepping ashore from their ships after months, even years, at sea. Stray cats slithered like treacle over fences as they any mangy dogs prowled for scraps or escaped the grasping hands of animal thieves. On the wet slippery roads the wretched, beaten horses strained and slipped as they tried, often in vain, to pull their loads along the icy roads or up the steep hills leading out of the city.
This was London, seven years after the Battle of Waterloo- the London of coffee houses which had seen the birth of great adventures as different as the first stirrings of Lloyd's of London and the early beat of the guitar. Some ideas failed; others succeeded beyond man's wildest dreams. In St. Martin's Lane, not far from Piccadilly Circus, stood Old Slaughter's Coffee House- named after its original owner- and on the evening of June 16, , it was busier than usual. A row of the then fashionable stove-pipe hats hung from the rack near the front door.
They belonged to men who had come to attend a meeting- one which was to succeed magnificently; a meeting to discuss ways of protecting animals from cruelty. Two year previously an Irish member of Parliament, Richard Martin, had piloted a Bill through the House of Commons to give protection to domestic animals, but it needed teeth, it needed men of vision and courage to see that the clauses of the bill were put into effect.
One man was determined to see that animal justice was done, to try and assist the police who in those days had more than enough work enforcing the laws protecting life and property. Arthur Broome was a Devonshire man, educated at Balliol, an MA, who spent four years at Bromley- and about whom, ironically, little is known except the beautiful handwriting of his Minutes.
We do not even know where he was buried when he died in but we do know that this quiet unassuming pioneer who also had a practical streak to his character was destined to change the face of humanity in its attitude to animals, that from these early endeavors a crusade of animal welfare would eventually encompass the globe. And so steadfast was his purpose, so great was his determination that he even languished in a debtor's prison after spending his money- and more besides- on the early struggles of the RSPCA which he founded.
So it all started in Old Slaughter's Coffee House, famous as a resort of painters and actors. The building has long since been demolished, though there is a plaque on a shop near Long Acre to commemorate the founding of the Society.
Arthur Broome's idea was that if he could persuade a few prominent people to support him, he would found a society, employ an inspector to see that Martin's Act as it was known was properly enforced. Richard Martin nicknamed "Humanity Dick" by George IV was delighted, came to the meeting, and, among others who attended was a quiet, gentle man with a great social conscience His name was William Wilberforce.
Each realized the need for an organised effort to educate and publicise, to enforce the law, particularly as the magistrates in the Britain of those days viewed Martin's Act with, in the words of one historian, "professional torpor. The "Royal" was added later. Arthur Broome must have been a man of enormous determination, for this was his second attempt to form a society. His first, two years previously just after Martin's Act had been passed, had failed- and it is interesting to note that the same fate befell a group of people in Liverpool who even earlier in formed a "Society for the Suppression and Prevention of Wanton Cruelty to Animals".
This in fact was the first Society ever to be formed but though we have records of these first meetings it seems to have been unable to continue.
For two years Mr. Broome struggled to interest people- and raise money. And at the end, in , he was successful, as this extract from the Minutes of June 16 shows- the first minutes of the Society that was to become a world-wide organization:. That a committee be appointed to superintend the Publication of Tracts, Sermons, and similar modes of influencing public opinion, to consist of the following Gentlemen:.
Sir Jas. MP, Wm. Wilberforce Esqr. MP, Basil Montagu Esqr. A Broome, Revd. Mudford Esqr. That a Committee be appointed to adopt measures for Inspecting the Markets and Streets of the Metropolis, the Slaughter Houses, the conduct of Coachmen, etc.
T F Buxton Esqr. MP, Richard Martin Esqr. Brogden Esqr. T G Meymott Esqr. Broome was not a man to waste time. Within four days one of the committees was meeting again, and Mr. Yet during the next two years, the newly-formed SPCA all but foundered. The young Society was served by energetic and dedicated committee members, yet few had sufficient funds to tide the organisation over. By the funds were coming to an end and much of the work was suspended for nearly two years, even though Mr.
Broome had resigned his living to devote his whole time to the cause. This remarkable man not only provided his time for nothing- he paid all the out-of-pocket expenses when there was no money in the bank. Worse was to come. Arthur Broome- being responsible for the debts of the Society- was thrown into prison in January ; as one historian puts it with typical British understatement, 'a most unfortunate position for a clergyman'.
Lewis Gompertz who had attended the first meeting was appointed "Hon. Secretary Pro Tem in the absence of Mr Broome,' a delicate way of covering up Mr Broome's unavoidable absence from home. Gompertz and a few friends hastily collected enough money to pay the debts, and Mr Broome was released. With only the slenderest financial resources, the Society struggled on on many fronts. It tried to ameliorate the shocking conduct of the Smithfield meat market, to punish cat skinners, men who used dogs as draft animals, and to alleviate the misery of horses.
The gallant Mr Broome was finding it increasingly difficult to attend the committee meetings and so Mr Gompertz dropped the words 'Pro Tem' and was elected official Honorary Secretary. Gompertz has often been described as an eccentric. He was certainly a remarkable man, with 38 inventions to his credit who was also a talented author. He would never, he said, do anything that would cause suffering to animals and it was a creed he stuck to every day of his life, not only did he refuse to eat meat, but he would never ride in a coach because of the suffering to the horses.
He not only endeavored to abolish dog-pits- where animals fought to the death for the amusement of the onlookers- but he tried to ban bull-fighting and bull-baiting; perhaps even more important, he arranged for committee members to hold regular meetings with magistrates in an attempt to make them realise the importance of enforcing Martin's Act.
Released by Warner Brothers, it was the first movie from a major motion-picture studio to be shot using the three-dimensional, or stereoscopic, film process and one Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. One hundred and twenty-nine sailors and civilians were lost when the sub unexpectedly plunged to the sea floor roughly miles off the coast of New England.
On April 10, , a fire at the LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana, leads to the discovery of a torture chamber where enslaved workers are routinely brutalized by Delphine LaLaurie.
Rescuers found a year-old black woman trapped in the kitchen during the fire because The U. One day after surrendering to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his army for the last time. This was the first mission of its kind during the Revolutionary War. Live TV. This Day In History. In fact, by the early s, the ASPCA had become a common presence in the face of natural disasters , puppy mill busts , dog fighting raids and other forms of cruelty intervention.
But those tens of thousands of animals—now happy, safe and loved—are the result of more than a century of hard, dedicated work. From there, the advancements poured forth: ASPCA veterinarians were the first to operate on a horse with a broken kneecap a procedure considered impossible at the time and the first to use radium to treat cancer in animals.
We advanced the use of anesthesia in animal surgery, and inaugurated dog obedience training classes in By , we were poised to perform our first open-heart surgery on a dog. Pet population control, along with effective measures to keep animals from being surrendered, were also a critical key to our success in the field of animal placement.
Never content to rest on our laurels, our innovations have continued to the present day. In , we launched the ASPCA Partnerships program to support at-risk animals in communities around the country through grants, training and many other resources. Field rescues, medical operations and behavioral treatment are all methods we use to save the life of an animal, but at the ASPCA, we are also focused on the bigger picture—that is, saving the lives of many animals at once.
Henry Bergh set the tone in the s when he became a prosecutor of animal abuse cases outside of New York City, and from then on, we have made it a top priority to work closely with all levels of government to pass stronger anti-cruelty laws, and to defeat harmful bills. In , the ASPCA played a role in enacting a federal law requiring that all shipped animals be allowed food, water and exercise during extensive transit.
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