April Shines a Spotlight on ASPCA’s 160th Anniversary and History

Throughout 2026, the ASPCA is sharing highlights from our organization’s rich and sometimes unexpected 160-year history.

As the nation’s first animal welfare organization, the ASPCA has been part of the American story for 160 years — leading the way to prevent cruelty, protect animals and respond when we’re most needed.

While April 10, 1866, marks the day it all began, the entire month of April holds special meaning for us. Each April, we also recognize National Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month, National Dogfighting Awareness Day and Animal Advocacy Day, and we do our best to leverage these observances to advance public education and drive meaningful action for animals.

Our work is rooted in the bold, determined vision of our founder, Henry Bergh. In June 1867, Bergh took an extraordinary step when New York County Sheriff John Kelly appointed him assistant deputy sheriff, empowering him “to assist in preserving the public peace.” Never one to shy away from bold behavior in the service of compassion, Bergh soon convinced New York County District Attorney A. Oakey Hall to admit him to the bar — without an exam — appealing “in behalf of the merciful cause to which I am devoting my life.” With that, Bergh was named an assistant district attorney, prosecuting cases beyond New York City. A decade later, in 1876, his authority expanded even further when he was granted the power to represent New York State in state court.

In our very first year, the ASPCA made an extraordinary impact, securing 66 convictions from 119 prosecutions. Just 11 agents, each earning $16 a week and empowered to make arrests across New York, carried out the work. The momentum was unstoppable. By 1874, the ranks of ASPCA agents had grown tenfold, and by 1888 — the year of Henry Bergh’s death — the organization employed 206 agents operating in 47 New York counties. Over Bergh’s remarkable 22-year tenure, the ASPCA prosecuted nearly 14,000 cases, removed more than 35,000 animals from grueling labor, and humanely ended the suffering of 25,000 horses deemed “disabled past recovery.”

From our earliest prosecutions in the 1860s to our impact today, our story reflects a legacy of compassion backed by decisive action.

Confronting Cruelty Through Prevention and Prosecution

Much like today, in 1866 prevention was recognized as the most powerful way to confront widespread, systemic cruelty. Our founder believed that through education, cruelty could be stopped before it began — and, if that failed, through accountability and prosecution.

Among the most brutal crimes the ASPCA set out to end was dogfighting. Blood sports were deeply ingrained in the culture of the time; staged spectacles pitting chained bears against dogs were grimly common. But after the death in 1870 of Kit Burns, the most notorious animal-fighting ringleader of the mid-19th century, dogfighting largely retreated into the shadows. The ASPCA’s 1887 Annual Report notes that dogfighting, cockfighting and rat-baiting — collectively condemned as “demoralizing exhibitions” — had been driven underground, becoming “most difficult to discover […] by reason of the secrecy in which they are conducted.”

Yet even today — despite being a felony in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands — this crime persists, largely unchanged.

In February of this year, the ASPCA helped dismantle dogfighting operations in Dallas, Texas, that involved more than 200 dogs. Today, as in Bergh’s time, we’re confronting this illegal, underground world head-on through investigations, law enforcement training, legislation and advocacy. And we’ve gone further, recognizing these dogs as both victims and individuals and working to rehabilitate them — reflecting meaningful progress for our organization and society.

Across generations of advocates, staff and supporters, our commitment to preventing and responding to cruelty has never wavered, and our enduring mission continues to protect animals, save lives and build a humane future.

Giving with Pride

From the very beginning, financial support has done more than sustain the ASPCA — it has given animal lovers a powerful sense of pride, purpose and belonging, uniting them in a growing, compassion‑driven community and movement.

In the organization’s first year, more than $7,400 was raised to support the Society’s work, including $296 collected through criminal fines — the equivalent of about $163,000 today — a remarkable show of early commitment to protecting animals.

Like other philanthropic institutions of the era, the ASPCA depended on regular donors —known then as “subscribers” — for stability and long‑term planning. Annual memberships were set at $10 “for a gentleman” and $5 “for a lady,” inviting supporters to formally align themselves with the cause.

Just 25 years later, that foundation of generosity had grown dramatically: The ASPCA’s annual income reached nearly $100,000, driven primarily by estate bequests. Subscriptions and donations contributed $7,000, while fines accounted for $3,300 — evidence of a maturing organization with lasting support.

The ASPCA’s earliest benefactors included some of New York’s most prominent figures and philanthropists, among them Charles L. Tiffany, Cornelius Roosevelt and members of the Astor family. Women also played a vital role. In our first year, more than 200 members were on the rolls, including the famous opera singer Madame Antoinette Otto, and in later years, Mrs. F.W. Vanderbilt, whose husband’s grandfather, Cornelius Vanderbilt, was once a target of Bergh’s for overworking the horses on his rail lines.

Henry Bergh led by example. He purchased a $100 subscription himself and was listed as a life member in our annual reports until his death. At the ASPCA’s first annual meeting on May 2, 1867, it was announced that Bergh had become the ASPCA’s first benefactor “by Will,” leaving a property that generated $7,000 annually — a profound act of faith in the future of the mission. Today, many of the ASPCA’s programs and services are made possible by individuals who choose to include the ASPCA in their planned giving.

As we celebrate the founding 160 years ago of an organization that sparked a movement for vulnerable animals, we invite you to be part of what comes next and make a difference.