RSPCA NSW is a not-for-profit charity operating in New South Wales, Australia, that promotes animal welfare.about us , RSCPA NSW
History British background The idea behind the creation of an animal welfare charity in NSW has its roots in sentiments opposing the maltreatment of animals that were expressed by social reformers, clergy and politicians in Great Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.For background discussion on Britain's intellectual views see Hilda Kean, Animal Rights: Political and Social Change in Britain since 1800 (London: Reaktion Books, 1998). Rob Boddice, A History of Attitudes and Behaviours Toward Animals in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Britain (Lewiston, New York; Queenston, Ontario; Lampeter, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press, 2008). Harriet Ritvo, The Animal Estate: The English and Other Creatures in the Victorian Age (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1987). For some background remarks relating Britain's anti-cruelty movement to the beginnings of a similar protection movement in the Australian colony see Stefan Petrow, "Civilizing Mission: Animal Protection in Hobart 1876-1914," Britain and the World 5 (2012): pp 69-95 Some early legislative efforts to ban practices such as bull-baiting in the English parliament were made in 1800 and 1809, the former effort led by William Johnstone Pulteney (1729–1805) and the latter by Lord Erskine (1750–1823) but the proposed Bills were defeated.Kathryn Shevelow, For the Love of Animals: The Rise of the Animal Protection Movement (New York: Henry Holt, 2008), pp 201-240.
The first successful passage of anti-cruelty legislation in the British parliament occurred in 1822Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822 (3 Geo. 4. c. 71) under the direction of the Irish politician Richard Martin (1754–1834) who was nicknamed by King George IV as "Humanity Dick".Peter Phillips, Humanity Dick The Eccentric Member for Galway: The Story of Richard Martin, Animal Rights Pioneer, 1754-1834 (Tunbridge Wells, Kent: Parapress, 2003), p 146. Around the same time that Martin was drafting his anti-cruelty Bill, the Reverend Arthur Broome (1779–1837) had letters published in periodicals in which he canvassed for expressions of interest in forming a voluntary organisation to promote animal welfare and oppose cruelty."To Correspondents" The Kaleidoscope, 6 March 1821 p 288. Also see The Monthly Magazine Vol. 51 1 April 1821 p 3. "The Brute Species". "Notice" in Morning Post, 17 February 1821, p 3. Similarly see "Cruelty to Animals" The Sporting Magazine, Vol. VIII New Series No. XLIII (April 1821), p 33. See comments on these notices in Shevelow, For the Love of Animals, pp 267-268 The creation of voluntary groups that agitated for legal and social reform through the patronage of aristocrats, clergy and parliamentarians was not unusual in Broome's day, particularly in the case of the abolitionist or anti-slavery movement.See M. J. D. Roberts, Making English Morals: Voluntary Association and Moral Reform in England, 1787-1886 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
After the passage of Richard Martin's anti-cruelty to cattle bill in 1822, Broome attempted to form a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals that would bring together the patronage of persons who were of social rank and committed to social reforms. Broome did organise and chair a meeting of sympathisers in November 1822 where it was agreed that a Society should be created and at which Broome was named its Secretary but the attempt was short-lived.Shevelow, For The Love of Animals, 268; Arthur W. Moss, Valiant Crusade: The History of the RSPCA (London: Cassell, 1961), 22.
It was at Broome's invitation that a number of social reformers gathered on 16 June 1824 at Old Slaughter's Coffee House, London to create a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.Lewis Gompertz, Fragments in Defence of Animals, and Essays on Morals, Souls and Future State (London: Horsell, 1852), p 174. Edward G. Fairholme and Wellesley Pain, A Century of Work For Animals: The History of the RSPCA 1824-1934 (London: John Murray, 1934), pp 54-55 The meeting was chaired by Thomas Fowell Buxton MP (1786–1845) and the resolution to establish the Society was voted on. Among the others who were present as founding members were Sir James Mackintosh MP, Richard Martin, William Wilberforce, Basil Montagu, John Ashley Warre, Rev. George Bonner (1784–1840), Rev. George Avery Hatch (1757–1837), Sir James Graham, John Gilbert Meymott, William Mudford, and Lewis Gompertz.A complete list of the founder members is recorded in Gompertz, Fragments in Defence of Animals, pp 174-175. Broome was appointed as the Society's first honorary secretary."Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" Morning Post 28 June 1824 p 2. The Society received the Royal prefix, which was bestowed by Queen Victoria, in 1840 and thereafter became known as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.Fairholme and Pain, A Century of Work for Animals, p 89
Early concerns about cruelty in the NSW Colony In the colony of NSW some concerns about the maltreatment of animals were expressed in 1804 and 1805 in The Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser.Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser, 1 January 1804 p 3 (refers to a slaughtered bullock on the previous Christmas Day); "Sydney" Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser, Sunday 24 March 1805, pp 2-3. available at In 1820 one unnamed journalist expressed the mistaken belief that Lord Erskine had been successful in having an anti-cruelty law passed:
The journalist then referred to various acts of brutality that had been reported concerning a pig and a dog, and evidently believed that the anti-cruelty law of England also applied in NSW.
In 1837 a correspondent wrote to the Sydney Herald to complain about the non-existence of a colonial equivalent to England's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the paper echoed the sentiment that such an organisation was needed.Sydney Herald, 27 March 1837, p 2. available at When the gold-rush struck in the NSW western town of Bathurst, further concerns were expressed about the need for anti-cruelty legislation in NSW that would mirror Britain's laws."Act to Prevent Cruelty to Animals" Bathurst Free Press, 1 February 1851, p 4. available at News from England about the prosecution of individuals sponsoring cock-fighting was reported in the Sydney press in 1863."Cock-Fighting on Sundays -- Conviction of the Marquis of Hastings," Empire [Sydney] Wednesday 19 August 1863, p 3. available at Articles were sometimes published that referred back to past notable English characters, such as Sir Matthew Hale (1609–1676), who had made known their sentiments about opposing cruelty toward animals."Humanity to the Lower Animals", The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 August 1866, p 7. available at
Creation of RSPCA in NSW A groundswell of public opinion in NSW in favour of the creation of anti-cruelty legislation as well as an anti-cruelty organisation began to be expressed in editorials in 1864 and then in letters to newspapers in 1867.Clarence and Richmond Examiner and New England Advertiser, Tuesday 12 January 1864, p 2. available at; "Wanted, A Prevention of Cruelty To Animals' Act" Empire [Sydney] Tuesday 16 April 1867, p 5. available at; "Cruelty to Animals" Bell's Life in Sydney, 27 April 1867, p 6. available at Similar sentiments about the necessity of passing anti-cruelty laws and creating organisations similar to England's RSPCA were published in the newspapers in the colonial states of Victoria,see "Cruelty to Animals," The Argus, Thursday 14 February 1861 p 5; "Cruelty to Animals," The Argus, Wednesday 2 January 1867, p 6. South Australia,"Cruelty to Animals," South Australian Register, Monday 1 April 1867, p 2. Queensland,"Cruelty to Animals," The Queenslander, Saturday 13 July 1867, p 5. TasmaniaThe Mercury, Saturday 31 July 1875, p 2. and Western Australia"General News" The Inquirer and Commercial News, Wednesday 24 August 1892, p 2 from the 1860s until the early 1890s as each colonial state established an SPCA (South Australia 1875, Tasmania, 1878, Queensland 1883, Western Australia 1892 ). The first anti-cruelty society organisation that was created in the Australian colonies occurred in Melbourne, Victoria on 4 July 1871 known as the Victorian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.Barbara Pertzel, For All Creatures: A History of RSPCA Victoria (Burwood East, Victoria: RSPCA Victoria, 2006), p 5.
An anonymous letter to the editor seeking expressions of interest to create an anti-cruelty organisation was published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 3 July 1873."Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," The Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 3 July 1873, p 3. available at On Thursday 10 July 1873 a meeting was held in the offices of Mr R. Want of Pitt Street, Sydney where the resolution was voted for and passed:
At the meeting the positions of honorary secretary (Mr Charles Lett) and honorary treasurer (Mr A. Sandeman) were filled. On Wednesday, 16 July 1873 a meeting convened at 132 Pitt Street, Sydney in Mr Sandeman's office to establish the rules and to elect officers to positions in the newly created Society."Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," The Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 17 July 1873, p 5. available at On Monday 28 July 1873 it was announced at a committee meeting that the Society's first President would be the prominent Anglican Sir Alfred Stephen (1802–1894) who had served as the Third Chief Justice of NSW."Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," The Sydney Morning Herald, Tuesday 29 July 1873, p 4. available at. On Sir Alfred Stephen's life also see J. M. Bennett, Sir Alfred Stephen: Third Chief Justice of New South Wales (Sydney: The Federation Press, 2009). He also served in the NSW Legislative Council and on four separate occasions he unsuccessfully attempted to have an animals protection bill passed.See Martha Rutledge, "Stephen, Sir Alfred (1802-1894)," Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed online 17 May 2017 available at.
The Society's first annual meeting was held at the Temperance Hall in Pitt Street, Sydney on 6 August 1874, and Sir Alfred Stephen presided. Also in attendance were several prominent public officials including Sir Saul Samuel (1820–1900) a Jewish community leader and parliamentarian, Mr E. Fosbery (Superintendent of Police), Rev. Dr. Charles Badham (1813–1884) a lecturer at the University of Sydney, Rev. William Ridley (1819–1878), and Mr George Oakes MLA (1813–1881). The annual report was read out, further resolutions were voted on and prizes were awarded to schoolboys for essays written about cruelty to animals."Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" Empire [Sydney] Friday 7 August 1874, p 2. available at; "Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday 7 August 1874, p 3. available at
Role of women