ASPCA Interest Groups

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

In today’s American society, there are thousands of interest groups throughout the whole United States. An interest group is an association of an individual or organizations that share a similar interest and try to influence government policies and the people. These types of interest groups or lobbies vary from topics that range from abortion, death penalty, education, or agriculture, and many more. One very popular interest group in America is the ASPCA a particular lobby that has been around for many years that has greatly influenced public opinion both positively and negatively. There could be room for improvement for this particular interest group, but they have accomplished

This group was founded by Henry Bergh, who witnessed animal cruelty himself. This had left him greatly astonished enough to visit the RSPCA headquarters in London with a principal goal of “improv[ing] the lives of farm and work animals in New York” where this group was established. (Wand, p.14) This interest group grew even bigger, to a point where it wasn’t just farm and work animals that needed to be protected. What had encouraged Bergh to begin this movement was when he “witnessed a teamster, who was giving his horse an unmerciful beating” (p. 70). Bergh even abandoned his own career to pursue the cause of what he called “reviving the principle pf mercy in the human heart.” (p. 70). Before the 1860’s, there was no such laws that protected animal abuse, but by 1866 the New York legislators passed a protection act to prevent cruelty to animals, and this group became established. Bergh became the founder, president, advocator, and administrator for the protest against the abuse of animals until his death that took place on March 8, 1888, (p.72) but his movement still lives on to this day with a goal of giving animals “kind and respectful treatment at the hand of humans, and must be protected under the law” according to the ASPCA. Today, the ASPCA has over 1.2 million members all over America, and Matthew Bershadker was named

As we know, most of the time, there is loopholes, and where there is loopholes, there is exemptions to the mistreatment of these defenceless animals. Primarily, these include agriculture animals that Americans consume such as cows, pigs, chickens. Secondly, animals used for their fur such as bears and sheep. And lastly, animals that are used for experiments. These animals are the “loopholes” according to David Masci, who surveyed 1,003 Americans on how they view animal rights. Only 38% of Americans strongly believe that an animal’s right of living is just as important as a person’s right to live free from suffering. People will claim that animal abuse is morally wrong, yet when it comes to people’s so called needs, some of these same people will turn the whole situation around. For example, when we think of animals, a dog or cat suddenly comes to mind, but what about the rats and possums the people despise so much that they kill them? Or what about the pigs, sheep, and cows? People eat these all the time, so livestock animals aren’t taken into consideration when it comes to their lives as well. According