This Day in History: 1824-06-16

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)

is founded on this day in London in 1824. The London SPCA became the Royal SPCA in 1840 by a charter granted by Queen Victoria, who was an animal rights advocate. The awakening of conscience that the formation of the SPCA reflects had taken place for over a century, spurred by stories and engravings like this one by William Hogarth, “The Second Stage of Cruelty: Coachman Beating a Fallen Horse,” which was published in 1751.