American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(A.S.P.C.A.), chartered in 1866 in New York by Henry Bergh to shelter homeless animals, to assist farmers in caring for their livestock, and to cooperate with law enforcement agencies in the prosecution of game-law violators. The A.S.P.C.A. is patterned on the English organization, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, founded in 1824 through the efforts of Richard Martin (1754-1834), an Irish member of Parliament.
