A Quick Introduction to The Animal Welfare Movement

The relationship between people and nonhuman animals is a long and complicated one. If you are reading this, you probably like animals and are concerned about their welfare. But you probably also categorize animals according to what is an acceptable use of that particular kind of animal. It's OK to eat cows but not dogs, to kill mice but not cats.

Individuals and groups concerned about animals hold many different beliefs about the proper relationship between people and nonhuman animals.  At one end of the spectrum is the person who believes humans have an absolute right to use animals in any way they see fit. At the other end is the person who believes humans have no right to use animals at all. Most of us and the organizations we support belong somewhere in between, often moving up and down the spectrum according to the animal or issue involved.

Animal rights and animal welfare are two terms used to describe systems of belief about animal/human relationships.

The animal welfare movement encompasses all the groups whose concern is the better treatment of animals. It includes the traditional SPCAs, as well as special interest groups working specifically with stray cats or wild horses for example.

The animal welfare movement blends into the animal rights movement. The main difference between them stems from the latter's belief in an animal's inherent right to life. In other words, animal rights proponents don't believe we should eat animals or use them in any way which interferes with their natural existence. Animal welfare tends to be more practical, accepting human use of animals as long as that use is humane. Both welfare and rights groups often refer to themselves as animal protection organizations.

Animal welfare groups usually call themselves either humane societies or SPCAs.  An SPCA or humane society typically concerns itself with the practicalities of looking after unwanted or abused animals. In Canada, most local societies are centered around running an animal shelter and their programs usually have an educational component, often directed toward spaying and neutering pets. Provincial societies usually deal with livestock as well as companion animals. SPCAs and humane societies tend to be conservative in their views, reflecting public opinion rather than creating it.

The general public doesn't realize that there is no such thing as "The SPCA". There is no single governing or policy-making body which decides the direction for individual SPCAs. Some provinces have provincial societies, some don't. Some provincial societies have branches, some have members or affiliates, some have both. One hundred and twenty-three SPCAs and branches are members of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, a national charitable organization which provides representation at the federal level for animal concerns.

The humane movement is a fairly recent phenomenon in history, although the place of animals in the world order has been discussed by philosophers through the ages. The first SPCA in Canada was formed in 1869 in Montreal, three years after Henry Bergh started the first American SPCA, and only 36 years after the formation of the first SPCA in the world, the RSPCA in England. The founders of our country's earliest humane society called it the Canadian SPCA, perhaps dreaming that one day there would be branches across the country. However, the humane movement in Canada did not develop along the same lines as did the British RSPCA. It developed regionally, rather than nationally, and today the CSPCA would be more appropriately named the Montreal SPCA. Similarly in the United States, the American SPCA operates in the city of New York, not the whole country.

Early SPCAs concerned themselves mainly with work animals and children. For example, the Toronto Humane Society was initially formed in 1887 as the Humane and Children's Aid Society. As other organizations sprang up to look after the welfare of children, humane societies concentrated all their efforts on animals. Today there's a new initiative among humane societies to re-establish the link between animal protection and child protection. 

Prior to World War I, horses provided the majority of society's engine power, and teamsters beating overloaded, overworked horses were a common sight. Early minutes of the Edmonton SPCA, for example, are full of references to the treatment of work horses in the city. Increased mechanization after the war led to a shift in humane society focus from work animals to pets. For the most part, concern for livestock has been relegated to the few humane societies which work in rural areas and to livestock industry and animal rights groups.

The humane movement is a complex organism. All of us are bound by the desire to help animals, and perhaps it would be better if "The SPCA" existed in Canada or even in each province. But historically, that is not the way the humane movement developed on this continent.

The humane movement is a hedge with many bushes. A well-grown hedge is a visible and effective protection for animals, but each individual bush needs tending if the whole is to remain complete.

© 2000 Elizabeth Gredley and animalINK
All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author. Permission is granted to reprint on a non profit web site provided this copyright notice and link to www.animalink.ab.ca remain intact.