Bergh's Animal Cruelty

151 Words1 Pages
Bergh’s emotional accounts of the horrors inflicted on animals persuaded the New York State legislature to pass the contract incorporating the ASPCA on April 10, 1866. Nine days later, the first operative anti-cruelty law in the United States was approved, authorizing the ASPCA to examine grievances of animal cruelty and to make arrests. Bergh became accustomed sight on the streets and in the courtrooms of New York. He repeatedly examined slaughter houses, participated with police to shut down dog- and rat-fighting pits and lectured in schools and to adult societies. In 1867, the ASPCA recognized and functioned the nation’s first ambulance for horses. As the developer and trendsetter of the humane movement, the ASPCA rapidly became the model