For the Prevention of Cruelty: The History and Legacy of Animal Rights Activism in the United StatesAnimal rights. Those two words conjure diverse but powerful images and reactions. Some nod in agreement, while others roll their eyes in contempt. Most people fall somewhat uncomfortably in the middle, between endorsement and rejection, as they struggle with the profound moral, philosophical, and legal questions provoked by the debate. Today, thousands of organizations lobby, agitate, and educate the public on issues concerning the rights and treatment of nonhumans. For the Prevention of Cruelty is the first history of organized advocacy on behalf of animals in the United States to appear in nearly a half century. Diane Beers demonstrates how the cause has shaped and reshaped itself as it has evolved within the broader social context of the shift from an industrial to a postindustrial society. Until now, the legacy of the movement in the United States has not been examined. Few Americans today perceive either the companionship or the consumption of animals in the same manner as did earlier generations. Moreover, powerful and lingering bonds connect the seemingly disparate American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of the nineteenth century and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals of today. For the Prevention of Cruelty tells an intriguing and important story that reveals society’s often changing relationship with animals through the lens of those who struggled to shepherd the public toward a greater compassion. |
From inside the book
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... fight for, and how did they fight? What were the internal disputes, and who were the external enemies? By rediscovering these connecting threads, we reconstruct the historical cornerstones of today's movement. When I began my research ...
... fighting of animals, cropping dog's ears, and dehorning cattle.10 During those first decades, the SPCA also secured hundreds of cruelty convictions; distributed hundreds of thousands of humane publications; and established veterinary ...
... fight over vivisection portended similar troubles for humanitarians in the United States. Even so, as the publicized activities of the English movement reached U.S. shores, several state legislatures took up cruelty issues. First New ...
... fight for “the principles of humanity” to that of the martyred Abraham Lincoln.22 In addition, animal advocates peppered their own polemics with similar allusions that depicted the use of the “lash” and “branding iron” on enslaved ...
... fighting for workers, women, children, or animals—refused donations or bequests from the working class or African Americans, but most routinely and of necessity filled their coffers with contributions from well-known and the well-to-do ...
Contents
1 | |
19 | |
39 | |
59 | |
5 Reaching Out to the Mainstream | 91 |
6 Our Most Strenuous Protest | 119 |
7 The Road to Liberation | 147 |
Epilogue | 197 |
Notes | 203 |
Bibliography | 267 |
Index | 295 |