The Pennsylvania SPCA

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

He saw a horsecar driver relentlessly beating an exhausted horse struggling to start a trolley overloaded with passengers. He clenched his jaw in anger. This was not the first time he witnessed such abuse.

The scene was an old story in Philadelphia. On many similar occasions, Mucklé and others had complained to the drivers, transportation companies and police. But they showed no sign of concern.

Mucklé was outraged at the abuse horses endured on a daily basis as they pulled people and cargo around the city.

He was also frustrated that the authorities were not enforcing the few anti-cruelty laws that existed. It was clear that more stringent legislation and effective enforcement were sorely needed.

Mucklé knew others had the same convictions and that a unified effort was necessary.

Many, if not most of the city’s work horses were lame, sore and weak. Cobbled and icy streets were made more hazardous by broken glass, iron barrel hoops, shattered crockery and tin scraps, all adding to the miseries of laboring horses.

Streetcars carrying passengers were routinely overloaded, and there was no shelter along the miles of streetcar tracks.

The horses endured sweltering hot summers and freezing cold winters with no protection. Water stations simply did not exist.

Colonel Mucklé had also witnessed dogs and cats being starved and beaten to death. Many times he saw cattle, sheep, swine and poultry jammed into filthy and inadequate railroad cars and freight wagons.

Mucklé was tired of witnessing so many abuses and resolved to change the situation for animals in Philadelphia.

Mucklé knew the best way to accomplish this change was to form a law-enforcement society sanctioned by the state government.

On April 27, 1866, Mucklé inserted a notice in the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. It announced the intention of forming the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It took more than a year, but on June 21, 1867, the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was organized.

A prominent Philadelphia merchant, S. Morris Waln, donated $10,000 toward the work of the proposed society. Other citizens gave their support as well. Donations started trickling in, signifying the public’s support.

On April 4, 1868, the Pennsylvania legislature granted a charter to the already functioning Pennsylvania SPCA. It was now established as the first humane society in the state and the second in the nation.

Horses were used as the main form of transportation in those days. Because of this, the list of cruelties and inhumane treatment of animals in Philadelphia during the latter part of the nineteenth century centered primarily around horses.

Although pets and food animals were also victimized, horse abuse was our founder’s prime target.

Badly paved streets caused accidents to horses. Excessive strain was put upon street car horses because of frequent stops and starts.

Many horses had bad shoeing, docked tails and never had the benefit of a blanket while standing in the cold.

Early donors, S. Morris Waln, J.B. Lippincott, George H. Earle, William Porter and others, made it possible for our new Society to launch an offensive against these and other forms of animal cruelty.

Overloaded streetcars infuriated our Society’s first anticruelty agents. One company, the Arch Street Line, was a noted offender. When it announced that it was coming out with a new horsecar almost twice the size of the model in operation, the PSPCA acted quickly.

Working with the power of law enforcement just granted by the state, the PSPCA immediately threatened the arrest of the company’s officers. After some fiery exchange of letters and words, the Arch Street Line backed down and scrapped its mammoth streetcar.

Reforms took place gradually. Our Society brought about corrective actions such as: the oiling of all curves on streetcar tracks (to help make life a little easier for the horses hauling the load), frequent rest periods, provisions for extra horses on steep grades, curtailment of whips, replacement of rotting wooden blocks and slippery cobblestones with the revolutionary new paving material invented in 1872 by Telford McAdam, blanketing of horses in winter and the availability of watering troughs for work horses.

Although these changes may seem simple, they occurred over a period of many years. Consideration of animals’ needs was not a universal trait in those days.

However, protective measures eventually became part of our culture. Gradually, more people felt that treating your horse properly was only common sense.

As the Society gained successes in helping horses it was able to further expand its attention to other areas. Securing the humane treatment of livestock and pet animals became a natural part of the PSPCA and was enforceable under its legal jurisdiction.

The production of a new and humane livestock car by the Pennsylvania railroad came from a design submitted by the Pennsylvania SPCA. This made travel easier for cattle, sheep, swine and poultry.

Investigations and prosecutions of the abusers of dogs and cats curtailed the violence in the lives of these innocent animals.

Shelters were erected throughout the state to house, feed and care for the millions of homeless or unwanted animals.

But there is still so much to do!

The demand for our work is as overwhelming today as it was when Mucklé founded the Society.

We must constantly struggle to replace ignorance and callousness with knowledge and kindness. The PSPCA continues to make a difference in our world.

The More Things Change . . .

The times, they are a changin’. Through the media, there are many stories that demonstrate to the world how cruel humans can be toward other humans.

When people treat other people in this way, can you imagine the cruelties inflicted on animals?

When people lose respect for life in all forms, shocking and severe atrocities are bound to occur. Each PSPCA anti-cruelty agent has hundreds of photographs documenting cases, which are examples of horrible human abuses toward animals. As an animal lover, you wouldn’t want to see them.

Although it seems that times may be changing for the worse as far as crime is concerned, we know as a humane society we have to stay the course.

We have to keep demonstrating our unwavering resolve to fight animal abuse, following in the footsteps of our founder.

Certainly the focus of our work is on the most pressing problems of the times, but the common denominator has always been a voice for the animals.

Throughout our history, we have addressed problems that develop in the relationship between man and animal.

Our Humane Education Department started formally in 1925. We saw a need to teach children respect for animals. Indeed, children’s attitudes toward animals reflect their attitudes toward people.

At first the education program was limited to nature talks to children and broadcasts over radio station WIP in Philadelphia.

Our radio program was the first humane educational broadcast anywhere in the country.

Today, our education program is a part of the curriculum of more than 300 schools in Philadelphia and in the regions served by our upstate branches.

We began our work in Philadelphia. The headquarters were originally in the 1300 block of Chestnut Street but soon moved to 1627 Chestnut Street. The need for more space (including a veterinary clinic) required moving the headquarters to North Broad Street, (just below Girard Avenue), in the early part of the 20th century and when that building proved too small for our ever-expanding Society the move was made to our present Erie Avenue location in 1948.

The Rutherford Animal Hospital was added in 1952. It was named after Frank B. Rutherford, the Society’s manager from 1905 to 1937. He and his wife both provided for the hospital in their wills.

Today, veterinarians in the clinic handle over 30,000 cases each year—from preventative treatment to sick and injured animals. Our hospital is intended for those who cannot afford the cost of private veterinarians.

In addition to their work on owned pets brought to the clinic, our veterinarians maintain the health of the thousands of homeless animals that we house in our shelter each year.

There was a need for ambulance service from the very start. Ambulance service began with the horse ambulance. We had the first electric-powered horse ambulance in the year 1910. Our familiar red ambulances serve the Philadelphia area today.

Five rural branches have been added to serve the needs of humans and animals in areas where no shelters existed before. Investigations, animal adoptions and educational programs are part of each shelter’s operations.

The increasing problem of pet overpopulation prompted our society to enforce a neutering policy in 1970 requiring all female animals adopted from our shelters to be spayed. In 1972 the policy was expanded to include the neutering of males as well.

The low-cost neutering program is available whether the pet was adopted or not. Free neutering is offered for pets whose owners cannot afford even the low-cost fee.

Dog and cat population is the central problem of today. To use the vernacular of firemen, we think that we have this problem contained, but not under control.

Far from contained are the problems associated with factory farming and laboratory animals. Hunting and trapping are contained, but remain huge in size, though it appears that interest in these two areas is slowly shrinking.

Problems concerning animals have shifted. With your help the PSPCA will continue to smooth the path of the human/animal relationship through education, compassion and consideration.

The adoption fee is $50 for cats over six months; $75 for kitten and adult dogs; and $125 for puppies under six months. We accept cash, Checks , Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and debit cards.