Item B: Animal Services - Laserfiche WebLink

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Historic Development of Animal Services Generally As early as the 1700s individual voices spoke out against those who would starve, beat or abuse farm or work animals. The first animal welfare society in the world was the Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Animals, formed in England in 1824. In the United States, efforts to protect and control animals began th early in the 19 century. Efforts focused on protecting horses and other draft animals but early animal welfare organizations also worked to protect dogs and cats. In that time dogs were frequently used to pull carts and run treadmills and were often allowed to run loose. As a result urban dog populations increased. Dogs often roamed the streets and foraged for food, endangering the public. Rabies was an ongoing health concern. Animal control practices of the time consisted of simply rounding up stray animals and killing them. Little attempt was made to return animals to their owners. The oldest American animal welfare organization, the American Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), was formed in New York in 1866. The Oregon Humane Society (OHS) was founded in 1868, making it one of the oldest in the United States. Initially the OHS focused on the conditions of draft animals but within a few years advocated for the protection of dogs and cats as well. The number of humane societies continued to increase and in 1877 delegates from twenty-seven societies from ten states met and founded the American Humane Association (AHA) with the mission is “to prevent cruelty, abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children and animals and to assure that their interests and well-being are fully, effectively, and humanely guaranteed by an aware and caring society.” Oregon’s first animal shelter was established by the Oregon Humane Society in Portland in 1918. Since then other national animal welfare organizations have been formed, including the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in 1954, which is now the largest animal welfare group in the world. Today hundreds of private animal welfare organizations work at both national and local levels. Over 50 private animal welfare organizations are active in the Eugene-Springfield area and Lane County. In parallel with the growth of animal welfare organizations, government’s role in addressing animal welfare and public safety issues has increased over the last 150 years. Very early on it was found necessary to invoke governments’ ability to pass laws and ordinances in order to achieve animal welfare and public safety goals. As an alternative to simply destroying animals, the first public pound in the United States was created by the City of Los Angeles in 1863 to hold animals while owners were located. Public pounds began to be created across the nation to address animal control issues. The ASPCA was successful in gaining passage in the New York Legislature of the nation’s first effective animal anti- cruelty law in 1867. States increasingly adopted protective laws and by 1888, as a result of growing public concern for animal welfare, thirty-seven of the then thirty-eight states had passed animal cruelty prevention laws. Since the 1940s new shelters have been built by cities and counties to replace outdated, overcrowded pound facilities. Shelter medicine became a new veterinary specialty and the spay/neuter movement has became widespread. As private and government animal welfare services developed, several organizations have been formed by animal service professionals to network, exchange ideas and information, and offer training within the profession. These include the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators (SAWA) and the National Animal Control Association (NACA).