Richmond SPCA Blog

Dispelling a common misconception

A few weeks ago I spoke with a local animal lover who asked my help in “settling a disagreement” with her granddaughter. It seemed that her granddaughter also cares about animals and had insisted that “the ASPCA and the SPCA are two different organizations,” and the caller asked me if she was correct.
 
Her granddaughter is mostly right. Actually, the name SPCA is common to hundreds of different organizations, which all operate independently of one another. Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were formed in cities across our country, starting with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York City in 1866 and followed a few decades later with our own Richmond SPCA in 1891.
 
While there are many organizations whose names share this common abbreviation, it does not indicate a common source of funding or shared operating procedures. This has to be the most frequently heard confusion about the Richmond SPCA, so I’m always glad for an opening, like the one this caller gave me, to clarify that our organization is an independent nonprofit and not a chapter or affiliate of any other SPCA or humane society. People are often surprised to learn that we are not connected to the organization that has gained such recognizable status through the repeated airings of commercials with music by Sarah McLachlan. 
 
Now that you know, we’d love to have your help. Look for an opportunity to tell someone what you’ve learned about the Richmond SPCA. The next time you hear the mournful lyrics, “In the arms of the angel,” don’t be sad about the images on your TV screen, be reminded to share this message. By visiting www.richmondspca.org/donate, you can be assured that you’re providing essential resources that will be put to work delivering lifesaving programs and services directly to the pets and people of Richmond.

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Tabitha Frizzell Treloar is the director of communications for the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires both your first and last name to be used as your screen name.

120 Years of History: Accomplishments of the early 1900's and the leadership of Ellen Glasgow

On March 25, I wrote a piece for this blog about the early history of the Richmond SPCA. I described its founding in 1891 as a result of the hard work of Nellie and Ben Palmer, Joseph Bryan, Jud Wood and others of our distinguished initial Board of Directors. I said that there would be more to come and here it is:

After its formation in 1891 at the beginning of the humane movement in this country, the Richmond SPCA struggled with inadequate funding. Then, Nellie Palmer convinced her aunt, Mrs. Louisa Nalle, to leave her estate to the Richmond SPCA. Mrs. Nalle passed away in the first decade of the 20th century and the $24,000 she left the organization really put it on its feet.

During these early years, there was no concept yet of sheltering homeless animals – that did not come along until about the 1920’s. Humane organizations such as ours were dedicated to advocacy for all animals. One of the great accomplishments of our organization in its early years was getting the Virginia General Assembly to adopt the first statute making cruelty to an animal a criminal offense.

In the early 1900’s, our organization had the benefit of a new and deeply dedicated leader. Ellen Glasgow was a Richmonder and one of the most famous and honored novelists of the 20th century. Her novel In This Our Life won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1942 and was made into a movie starring Bette Davis. She wrote with remarkable perception about the unfairness to and suffering of the downtrodden, including women, African- Americans and animals, during her lifetime.  

Ellen Glasgow cared passionately about animals and was President of the Board of the Richmond SPCA for 21 years until her death in 1945. She recruited many prominent and powerful Richmonders to our Board such as Douglas Southall Freeman and James Branch Cabell. Miss Glasgow was the driving force behind the opening of our first shelter in 1924.

Ellen Glasgow’s sudden death in 1945 left a large hole in the organization’s leadership (she actually died in bed during the night after having hosted a meeting of the Richmond SPCA Board in her dining room that evening.) However, her generosity in leaving the bulk of her estate and the all of rights to her great works of literature to the Richmond SPCA formed the nucleus of our endowment, which would impart fiscal stability for decades to come. Her bequest to our organization in her will was left in memory of her beloved Sealyham Terrier Jeremy, reflecting the great role he had played in her life. To this day, we continue to honor Ellen Glasgow and Jeremy in the names of our major giving societies.

The latter part of the 20th century was a very sad period for animal welfare both in this community and across the country. There were far more animals being born than possible homes for them and a general refusal of the public to face these facts with honesty. Humane organizations like ours all over the country took in many thousands of animals and killed the majority of them. They seemed to believe that this was their proper role and felt a need to conceal this terrible reality from the public. The result of this widespread dishonesty was that the steps that could be taken to deal compassionately and non-lethally with pet homelessness were not undertaken for far too long.

Next time, I will write about the beginnings of the no-kill movement in the 1980’s and how it has radically changed the prospects for homeless animals for the better. 

Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name. 

120 Years of History: The beginning of the humane movement and the founding of the Richmond SPCA

Joseph Bryan was among the initial officers of the Richmond SPCA.

This year is a big anniversary year for the Richmond SPCA and I bet that many people will be surprised at how old this organization is.  We are 120 years old this year.  That means we were founded in the year that Cole Porter was born and that the game of basketball was invented.  We are going to celebrate our 120^th Anniversary with a gala event on June 9. 

As we have worked on the event and on a video about our 120 years of history, I have spent quite a lot of time researching our history with Liz Bryant, our manager of major gifts.  I will be writing posts for this blog every few weeks over the coming months to share with you the remarkable history of our organization.  I hope that you find it as fascinating as I have.

Shortly after the Civil War, people in this country became increasingly concerned about the ways in which animals, especially horses, were being abused.  The humane movement can be said to have truly begun with the founding of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York City in 1866.  In the years that followed, the humane movement took hold and organizations around the country began to form for the protection of animals.  Most of them, although not connected in any way, used “society for the prevention of cruelty to animals” as their name with the city identifier at the beginning.  This, of course, has lead to the inaccurate belief of many people that organizations bearing this name are somehow all connected or related, which they are not. 

So, here in Richmond, a woman named Nellie Nalle Palmer had become aware of this growing national humane movement and was passionate about establishing a society for the protection of animals in our community.  Nellie was a socially well-connected former debutante who had married W. Ben Palmer, one of Mosby’s Raiders in the Civil War.  In 1883, she gathered a group of people at their home at 315 E. Main Street for the purpose of starting a Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  (An interesting tidbit is that this house, now demolished, was located where the Richmond Times-Dispatch building now stands.) Sadly, they were not able to inspire enough enthusiasm or support to get it off the ground in 1883 but Nellie did not give up.

Nellie worked with dedication for eight more years.  She raised money and convinced some of the most prominent men in Richmond that this was an important cause.  Note I say “men” – Nellie was the only woman involved.  In October of 1891, she and her husband again hosted a group in their Main Street home and, this time, they successfully founded the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.  They had recruited for the initial group of officers some very influential and respected Richmonders including Joseph Bryan, Dr. Jud Wood and Captain Alexander Guigon along with Nellie’s husband, Ben Palmer. 

Nellie, while an initial Board member, was not among the officers.  Nonetheless, she continued to be the source of energy and inspiration for the organization for decades to come.  Next, I will write about what the Richmond SPCA accomplished for the protection of animals in Virginia during the first decades of the twentieth century. Stay tuned.

Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.