WHAT:
RSPCA
WHERE:
74-75 St Martin’s Lane, London, WC2N 4EA, UK
LOCATION:
WHEN:
16th June 1824
WHO:
William Wilberforce, Richard Martin & Arthur Broome
DETAILS:
In 1824, a small group of people met in a London coffee shop, determined to change animals’ lives. They created the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals which became the RSPCA, sparking a movement that spread around the world.
Before that time, cruelty to animals was widely accepted. Few people kept pets, and animals were used for working, food, or entertainment. Setting dogs on chained bulls or bears was considered a sport. Things had to change.
The first-ever law protecting animals was the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act of 1822. It’s often called Martin’s Act, after Richard Martin who helped get the law passed. He was one of 22 people who went on to meet at Old Slaughter’s Coffee House, 74-75 St Martin’s Lane on 16 June 1824. With him was the Reverend Arthur Broome, credited as the society’s founder, and anti-slave trade campaigner William Wilberforce. By forming what became the RSPCA, they prompted a vital social shift in how people thought about animals.
The location of Old Slaughter’s Coffee House is now the entrance to Cranbourn Street alongside a modern Pret coffee house. It was demolished in 1843 to create this new road. Ironically Old Slaughter’s was also known as The Coffee House On The Pavement as so few London roads had pavements at the time. It is now just a pavement.
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