But no animal was such an integral part of the New York City landscape, so responsible for the city’s meteoric rise in size, and perhaps so consistently abused, as the working draft horse. At the time, all inland travel was done by horse-on horseback, in wagons, or in carriages. Horses straining under heavy loads with bleeding noses, who could be seen starving and dying in the streets or being beaten by caretakers, were a fact of New York City life, and scarcely resulted in a passing glance.
By the time of the Civil War, the aristocratic Bergh (Henry Bergh, the son of a wealthy ship builder) had moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he had been granted a diplomatic post by President Abraham Lincoln in the court of Czar Alexander II. Finding the duties tiring and mundane, Bergh spent less time on official duties and more time taking aimless carriage rides throughout the city. When he witnessed a peasant beating his donkey on one such ride, Bergh ordered the man to stop, which the man did in deference to Bergh, who looked like a well-dressed gentleman of official position. According to legend, the experience completely transformed Henry Bergh and left him with an abiding sense of accomplishment. Bergh spent his remaining time in Russia traveling daily by carriage in search of such transgressions, which he could prevent by reason of his social class, official position and immense physical stature.
On his return to the United States, he stopped in London for an extended visit with the president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The conversion was complete. Bergh had found his calling. “At last,” Bergh wrote, “I’ve found a way to utilize my gold lace-and about the best use that can be made of it.”
This quotation is taken from Nathan Winograd’s book entitled “Redemption; The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America.” I thought this passage would be a pertinent one to share because it exposes the little known history of how the ASPCA was founded. It is clear that the ASPCA was founded on moral grounds. Now I’m not saying that helping animals is only possible if you are in the top social class, have an official position, and immense physical stature, but it all started just by someone noticing the cruelty of a common act that had never been questioned before.
