The Sun.
London, England, 1825-08-26 00:00:00

F!IIDAV EVENING, AUGUST 26, 1825

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

The FIRST ANNUAL REPORT of the SOCIETY for the
PREVENTION of CRUELTY to ANIMALS.--Insti-
tuted 1824.

It is with great satiSfattion that; in tire charac-
ter of Secretary of the " Society for the Preven-
tion of Cruelty to Aminials," I am enabled to
present to the Members and friends of the Insti-
tution, this their first Annual Iteport. The wise,
the liberal, and the humane, among our country-
men had long been impressed with the necessity
of checking, a disposition too prevalent among tire
less' reflecting minds, towards barbarity-, in their
treatment of the inferior animals.---Persons of
feeling and judgment considered, that such
cruelty was not only evil in itself, butt tended to
degrade and brutalise the character, and to pro-
duce acts of Violence and outrage, in the inter-
course of mankind with each other. These re-
flections produced many religious and Metal-ex-
hortations from the pulpit and the press ; and at
length the Legislat Lire interposed its authority for
the repression of this species of cruelty. Still it
was obvious; that an Institution directed to this
object, could alone- produce a steady and per-
tnanent effect oh the general habits and manners
of the community. Such was the origin of the
Institution several zealous and excellent
indivi-
duals determined to • form, and the result
was the establishment of the present Society,
on the 25th Jerre, 1824. It is the fate of
all laudable undertakings to encounter, irf
their outset, prejudice and ridicule. This So,
ciety4 undaunted by such opposition, has per,
sued its progress with a steady pace. Its object
was to prorriote and extend the practice of hu,
manity to all the classes of aniniated beings in the
creation; and the means which it resolved to em-
ploy for this purpose, were, ie the first place, ra-
tional persuasion, and should that fail, then, legal
compulsion. No sooner was the Society esta-
blished than its attention began - to be turned,
with great anxiety to the best methods of effect
ieg the desired change. It was obviously mutt
congenial to heneVolent feeling to act'lry the
gentlest inducements, to introduce elementary
works impregnated with humane sentiments, into
schools, to cause short tracts, essays (having
kindness to brutes as their subject), to be circu-
lated among the lower classes; to interest the
professors of physical science in the cause of hu-
manity, to ehgage divines to dwell upon that part
of the scriptural duties in their sermons ; and
lastly, and above all, to enlist that powerful and
ceaseless engine, the Press, in the same sacred
cause. This course has been unremittingly pur-
seed. It was, however, soon found (what in fact
was anticipated would be the case) that the force
of persuasion alone would not be sufficient to effect
the desired change in the habits and manners of cer-
tain classes of indiVidUals ; and that it would he
absolutely necessary to proceed, in some in-
stances, by the terrors of the law. It was, theri.-
fore, determined to exercise a vigilant inspection,
especially over drovers, and others habittially
employed in the care of cattle ; and if they
Should be found indulging in brutality, to bring
them before the proper tribunals for censure or
punishment. With this view the Committee first
took care to ascertain by legal advice, how far
the law would support their exertions. These
points were really and satisfkctorily determined,
and the reqttisiter meastites Were adopted ac-
cordingly, when occasion presented itself. In
the course of the year, one hundred and forty-
four convictions for cruel and improper treatment
of animals have taken placel chiefly among bul-
lock drovers ; but partly alsd among those who
have the cate of horses,and who by furious riding
or driving mit only injure these:anitnals,but incur-
great hazard of destruction to human life. We
have every reason to hope that the necessity for
legal interference will gradually Cease: but painful
as is the discharge of such a duty, the Society will
not shriek from it, whenever it is called for by cir-
cufmstatices of peculiar atrocity. The scccess of
these combined methods of exhortation and pro,
secede') has been most satisfactory. It is im-
possible for any one, whose mind has been turn-
ed to obseriations of such matters, not .to be
struck With the marked difference which has
taken place within the last twelvemonth. if
there was one spot in the kingdom_ more dis-
graced than another, by the repetition of baths,.
roes cruelties, wreaked, week after week, on
poor dumb and defenceless animals, it was Smith-
field-market. The scene thereys now so much
changed, that we can hardly recognize the same
unfeeling class of met', that used to he employ-
ed in driving, or rather torturing; cattle. Some
of the most respectable inhabitants of the houses
which surround the market-place have borne
written testimony to this fact, by a letter ad-
dressed to the Committee. The Cruel sport (as
it was deemed) of bull-baiting had disgraced the
populace of many parts of England for cen-
turies. There were even towns hi which it was
regarded as a legal privilege of the inhabitants
to indulge their savage delight, once` a year or
oftener, with the contemplation of a noble
animal chained down to a spot, send then.wof-
ried. into a state of fury ; While fee, on his
part, gored, tossed, and mangled the poet dogs
hich Were set upon him by their cruet masters.
The Committee used every filtql OS to impress per-
sons, possessing influence and authority, with the
odious and inhuman character of this mis-named
pastime ; and it is gratifying to state, that those
efforts 'lave led, in corny instances, to' the sup.
pression of so disgraceful and unmanly a practice.
The persons who have encouraged it hate beetf ,
shamed into silence ; while Magistrates and other
have interposed to put down meetings evidently
calculated to produce disturbance to the public
peace, and danger to the lives and limbs of indivio

duals. From these facts it may not be unrea-
sonable to conclude, that there is a ground to
hope for an entire abolition of bull-baiting, at no
distant peribd, throughout our country. What ha,
been said of bull-baiting may be applied to simi-
lar diversions, such as hear-baiting, badger-bait-
iug, and cock-fighting. They all alike spring
from the indulgence of au unfeeling barbarity ;
they, have all alike been denounced and decreed
by the principles of the-society ; and they are all
alike becoming dolly leSs frequent. The course
of these observations neX't lead to a topic of a very
interesting nature, connected with a different
branch of the labourS Of the Society. The cruel-
ties hitherto
.considered, have borne upon the face
of them no pretence of extenuation or excuse, on
the ground of any real and solid advatitageS which
they Might. be supposed to produce. But it
could not .but be known, that there are cases
in which a won't Of natural tenderness
cloaked itself under . the pretence of a love
of science, and a desire' to promote the pub-
lic good. This assembly will be aware
that certain barbarous and, disguSting scenes
haVe takeu place in public lecture rooms,
were animals . have been tOrtured; with studied
ingenuity, as it were, to show off the dexteritr of
the executioner, and to extort applatise from the
astonished, but unfeeling spectators. The Com-
mittee will not shock the ears of this audience,
with a detail of the horrid tortdres to whiCh
animalS of every species hare been expoied,
sometimes by causing them to faint and recover
many times by the application of gases, or the
force of the air-pumps, sometimes by submerging
them under Water, sometime by exposing them to
the bite of venomous reptiles, trom which nature
teaches 'them to recoil with instinctive terror,
sometimes by bleeding them to death, sometimes
by galvanic experiMents oti their muscles, nerves,
-and brains, and sometimes by nailing them down
to a table, and cutting them up alive. Even this
brief odtline Must be horrible to. a feeling mind f
what would it be, if you were to sit for hours wit-
nessing the callousness of the Operater, and the
screams and convulsions df the poor mangled ani-
mal. The Committee were sensible that considera-
tions of mdch delicacy miffed thernselVes up with
this question.. They felt that it would not become
them to stand forward rashly in the face of the
public and accuse every person Who might try phy-
sical experiments on living animals of cruelty;
they knew that men of. high name, particularly
in the medical profession, had taken part in some
such operations: and they were therefore unwil-
ling to conclude that there might not possibly be
limits within which those experiments might be
justified by the practical benefit derivable froin
them to medical science. Actuated by these con
siderations, the Committee has desired letters to
be addressed to the principal practitioners in
medicine and surgery hi the metropolis and other
parts of the kingdom, requesting their opinion
whether such a justification of the 'practice in
question could be supposed to exist. The answers'
received from those gentlemen were extremely
candid and liberal ; and to some of the most re-
markable passages in those communications, the
Committee feel it impottant to call the partiCillar
attention of the present Meeting. This assembly
will readily participate in the satisfaction df the
Committee on finding the opinions of these
distinguished persons so congenial with the
views which they themselves entertained. If
no other result had followed from the for.
mation of the Society, than the bringing for:
ward, under such Sanction, sentiments, replete
with candour and benevolence, it could not be
said that this Institution had been formed in vain.
The passages already cited will remain upon re-
cord for the guidance, of futdre students, who
will be ashamed to deviate from rules so distinctly,
and at the same time so eloquently, laid down by
these eminent members of an enlightened and
beta' profession. Bdt the case does not rest
here. The CoMmittee have received a declara:
tion front Bath, signed by thirtpeight Physician§
and Surgeons, and one from 'Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, signed by twenty-nine, ail of whom engage
by their example, influence, and disSnasidit to dis-
countenance those cruel anatomical experiments
upon living animals, which, to thegi disgrace Of sci-
ence as they say, are Made sometimes withent utili-
iy, and freqdently without any adequate end, un-
der the pretence of promoting medic'al science ;"
and they earnestly recommend this subject to the
serious consideration of all students in anatomy,
entreating them, under a sense of moral prin-
ciple, not to be misled by the practiCes of ethers
who have thoUghtlessly, but unfortunately, de-
graded researches otherwise so meritorious and
important. Thus may we venture to believe
that their labours, during the last twelvemonth,
have produced a salutary impression on two very
different classes of strcie'ty : they have inditced
the drover to remit big brutality,- and they have
taught the medical stude'nt that cruelty was no
essential requisite to his professional pursuits.—
' The general effect-on the Public mind has not
been less gratifying. We have been cheered by
the approbation of the virtuous, the wise, and
enlightened ; and we have had occasion to
learn that many persons, formerly unused to
reflettiOn and -the government of temper, in
their treatment of inferior anitrials, have,
by the - publicity given to the proceedings
of this Society, been In d ti feel the pro-
priety and the duty of a different conduct ;
thus demonstrating that the seeds of humanity,
though dormant in the heart fora While, may yet
be elicited by proper cultiiation. Perhaps a
more unequivocal proof of moral improvement
among such men, cannot well be afforded than
this, that some of the very individuals before al-
ducted to,. who were associated in ttie rudest

PRICE SEVEr;IPEN‘ tt

offices of life connected with the care of cattle,
and who partook of the coarseness and aspeiity
of their companions, have actually become Mem-
bers of this Society.—The Committee are far
from claiming to themselves the merit of those
beneficial changes which have been
„produced to
relation to the conduct of individual's towards the
anfmal creation. They feel that the main_ and
.
principal cause of such a moral improvement is
ov%ing to the existence of this Society ; but they
also feel, and they deem it a duty to acknowlechts,
that incalculable benefit has resuliie from the
mannei. in Which the people at large have been
awakened to this branch of their duties by the
voice of Religion sounding from the pulpit, and
by several able productions of the periodical
press. Let all efforts conspire, in this labour of
love and dislnterested benevolence, to produce
one
.htimanNing and grateful result. Let us not
be weary in well doing,. hilt go on as long as
there remains any Such blot on the
.character of
our country, .as itihurnifrity or cruelty in any
shape, If it be shown to the, lowest of the eta.
mal tribes, it is in the heart, and, assoredly it
will bring, forth its fruits of bitterifess,to our fa-
milies, our friends, and our country. The Corn-
mittee.cannot close this Report without announc-
ing, that_ they have received information of A
Branch SoCiety; which is about to be established
at Wakefield, and another at Liverpool.