Animals' Friend Society

Animals' Friend Society
Animals' Friend Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Founded1832; 194 years ago (1832)
Founders
FieldsAnimal welfare
Publication
The Animals' Friend, or, the Progress of Humanity (1833–1841)

The Animals' Friend Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was a British animal welfare organisation founded in London in 1832 by Lewis Gompertz and T. Forster. It was nonsectarian and campaigned against cruelty to animals through publications, investigations and prosecutions. The society ceased functioning in the late 1840s.: 30, 195 

History

Lewis Gompertz had been honorary secretary of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (later the RSPCA), but left in 1831 following objections to the vegetarian ideas expressed in his book Moral Inquiries on the Situation of Man and of Brutes (1824). He founded the Animals' Friend Society with T. Forster the following year.: 30 

According to historian Chien-hui Li, the society opposed cruelty by members of all social classes at a time when the SPCA concentrated much of its work on abuses associated with the working classes.: 30 

By 1841, the society had ten branches in Dover, Canterbury, Gravesend, Birmingham, Walsall, Bristol, Yarmouth, Brighton, Norwich and Manchester.: 30  It was then experiencing financial difficulties, and its activities declined.

In 1844, a group seceded to establish the National Animals' Friend Society. Li identifies disagreement over Gompertz's belief in the immortality of animals as one reason for the split.: 30  The new society alleged that the original Animals' Friend Society had ceased to exist, but Li identifies evidence of its continued activity after 1844. Gompertz retired from public work because of ill health in 1846. The society was still reporting on the usefulness of birds in agriculture in 1848, but, according to Li, gradually ceased to function during the late 1840s.: 170, 195 

Later local societies

Groups using the Animals' Friend Society name were active in several towns later in the nineteenth century. John Cadbury supported the Birmingham society in the 1850s. Reports of animal protection work under the name appeared in Birmingham newspapers in 1879 and Warwickshire newspapers in 1880.

The Luton Animals' Friend Society was established in 1875. Louisa Bigg was its secretary.

Publications

The society published the illustrated periodical The Animals' Friend, or, the Progress of Humanity from 1833 to 1841, edited by Gompertz. The journal included accounts of animal behaviour and comparisons of human and animal capabilities.: 174 

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Li, Chien-hui (2019). Mobilizing Traditions in the First Wave of the British Animal Defense Movement. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-52651-9.
  2. 1 2 Wolf, Lucien; Marsden, Ben (2004). "Gompertz, Lewis (1783/4–1861), animal rights campaigner and inventor". In Marsden, Ben (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/10934. Retrieved 22 April 2020. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Li, Chien-Hui (2000). "A Union of Christianity, Humanity, and Philanthropy: The Christian Tradition and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Nineteenth-Century England" (PDF). Society & Animals. 8 (3): 265–285. doi:10.1163/156853000511122. ISSN 1063-1119.
  4. 1 2 "Gompertz, Lewis". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  5. ↑ "Animals' Friend Society". Aris's Birmingham Gazette. 15 May 1854. p. 4. Retrieved 2 May 2026 – via Findmypast.
  6. ↑ Kew, Barry (2023). Lewis Gompertz: Philosopher, Activist, Philanthropist, Inventor. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-6667-6129-0.
  7. ↑ "Animals' Friends". Birmingham Mail. 9 October 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 2 May 2026 – via Findmypast.
  8. ↑ "Alleged Cruelty". The Kenilworth Advertiser. 3 April 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 2 May 2026 – via Findmypast.
  9. ↑ "Animal' Friend Society". The Luton Times and Dunstable Herald. 1 May 1875. p. 3. Retrieved 2 May 2026 – via Findmypast.
  10. ↑ "The Proposed Cattle Trough". The Luton Times and Dunstable Herald. 18 September 1875. p. 5. Retrieved 2 May 2026 – via Findmypast.
  11. ↑ Donald, Diana (23 October 2019). Women against cruelty: Protection of animals in nineteenth-century Britain. Manchester University Press. doi:10.7765/9781526115430.00008. ISBN 978-1-5261-1543-0.