6 collections related to Animal welfare -- Law and legislation

The Animal Rights Network Records contains correspondence, office files, reports, clippings, publications, mailings, and audiovisual resources documenting the activities of the Animal Rights Network in advocating for the ethical and humane treatment of animals. Issues addressed by the organization include live animal experimentation, exploitation of animals for sport and entertainment, intensive breeding and slaughter of domestic animals for food, and irresponsible pet ownership. The Animal Rights Network (ARN) published a bimonthly magazine, The Animals' Agenda, which contained original content and also served to assist smaller animal rights organizations network with members of the animal rights community, as well as maintained a library and archives component. ARN encouraged its members to collect and maintain their own collections documenting the animal rights and animal welfare movements, and many members donated their collections to ARN. The bulk of the material dates from the 1970s to 2000s. In 1979, several Connecticut-based animal rights activists withdrew from Friends of Animals, Inc., to found the Animal Rights Network (ARN). ARN joined forces with the animal rights magazine Agenda, and together they worked to unite local, national, and international animal rights groups to achieve common goals. ARN's main objectives incorporated the central issues confronting the animal rights movement. These objectives included live animal experimentation, exploitation of animals for sport and entertainment, intensive breeding and slaughter of domestic animals for food, and irresponsible pet ownership. The group used its financial resources to develop advertising campaigns and publications in order to educate the public about animal rights issues. In 2001, the board of directors determined that the role of ARN as a movement building and networking tool was no longer necessary, and formed a new organization called the Institute for Animals and Society (IAS) to advance animal advocacy issues in public policy development by conducting scholarly research and analysis, providing education and training, and fostering cooperation with other social justice movements and interests. IAS merged with Society and Animals Forum to create the Animals and Society Institute in 2005. Less

Educational publications, advertisements, informational pamphlets, correspondence, subscription forms and ephemera related to animal rights and animal welfare, especially anti-vivisection. This collection appears to originate from the West of England, with a particular focus on the Manchester area. However, the collection also contains material from throughout the United Kingdom and a few materials from the United States. Most of the material was produced and distributed by organizations such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, the Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society, the League for the Prohibition of Cruel Sports, National Society for the Abolition of Cruel Sports, the Victoria Street Society for the Abolition of Vivisection, and others. Also included are Catholic, Quaker, and other religious pamphlets. The collection contains items written by Frances Power Cobbe, Henry Stephens Salt, H. E. Bates, George Bernard Shaw, and H. G. Wells. Members of the Bloomsbury Group, including Virginia Woolf and Clive Bell who are listed as subscribers to some groups, are represented here. There is also material related to and designed by cartoonist and animal rights activist Cyril Kenneth Bird, who went by the pen name 'Fougasse.' The material ranges in date from the 1870s to the 1950s and includes a quantity of material from the interwar period and the era surrounding and following World War II. Although anti-vivisection and animal rights were a concern in the United Kingdom as early as the eighteenth century, the first anti-cruelty law, "The Animal Protection Act" was passed in 1822, outlawing cruelty to cattle, horses, and sheep. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was formed two years later and had the distinction of being the first animal welfare society in the world. In 1840, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals received the support of Queen Victoria and adopted the name the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Anti-vivisection movements increased in response to an increase in scientific and medical experimentation with mammals in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Despite the commonly held belief that animal rights reemerged as a primary concern in the 1970s, groups advocating for the rights and well-being of animals continued from the nineteeth century into the era following World War II with little stagnation. Less

The records of the Animal Welfare Institute include administrative files of both the AWI and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation (SAPL), subject files on animals the organization works to protect, files on legislation that SAPL has been involved with, files on the work of other animal rights groups, subject files on regional activities, photographs, publications, books, audiovisual materials, and archived web content. Materials of the organization range in date from its founding in the early 1950s to the early 2020s; other materials in the collection date back to 1930. The Animal Welfare Institute was created in 1951 as a non-profit, charitable organization focused on reducing the amount of suffering inflicted on animals by humans. The AWI continues to be active in these endeavors today, working to reduce animal cruelty in captive and domestic situations--including farming and laboratories--and also working to protect the rights of animals living in the wild, both on land and in the water. Less

The Doris Day Animal League Records, 1978-2006, contains a wide variety of materials that document the organization's efforts to protect the lives of animals through policy initiatives and education--specifically relating to animal testing, animals in the entertainment industry, companion animals legislation, and horse slaughter. Included in the collection are correspondence, Freedom of Information Act requests, pamphlets, reports, legislative and judicial summaries, journal and newspaper articles, editorials, surveys, videotapes, photographs, and other materials. Some of the organization's largest efforts documented in these records are the United States Air Force chimpanzee divestiture, high production volume testing (HPV) on animals, no apes in entertainment, efforts to influence Disney's creation of their Wild Animal Kingdom park, dog breeding regulation, spay and neuter legislation, and horse slaughter legislation. Founded in 1987 by Doris Day, the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL) is a nonprofit lobbying organization committed to providing animal advocacy through policy initiatives, education, and corporate engagement. Based in Washington D.C., DDAL serves to influence federal, state, and local laws and policies that focus on animal welfare. Some of the organization's largest efforts relate to the United States Air Force chimpanzee divestiture, high production volume testing (HPV) on animals, no apes in entertainment, dog breeding regulation, spay and neuter legislation, and horse slaughter legislation. In 2006, DDAL merged into the Humane Society of the United States. Less

The Humane World for Animals Records (formerly the Humane Society of the United States Records) include original correspondence, publications, animal rights research, legislative files, voting ballots, reports, grants, memorabilia, archived web content, and photographs dating from 1918, with the bulk of the records from the 1960s to the 2010s. These materials encompass the full range of the organization's activities in promoting the protection of companion animals, farm animals, animals in laboratories, and wildlife. Additionally, the records reflect the organization’s special focus on public policy, humane education, and direct animal care work. Researchers should be advised that SCRC staff has identified materials in this collection that depict animal cruelty and abuse. Humane World for Animals, formerly known as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) (1957-2025) and the National Humane Society (1954-1956), is an animal welfare and rights nonprofit organization that was first formed in 1954 by former members of the American Humane Association (AHA). The organization committed itself to preventing cruelty to animals of all kinds as a part of the national animal humane movement. Since 1954, the organization has expanded its operations to include animal rights and welfare advocacy, education, legislation, research, investigation, and field services. Humane World for Animals has been instrumental in lobbying for federal animal rights and welfare legislation, including the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958, the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act of 1966, and the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act of 2006. For a more comprehensive historical timeline and a list of abbreviations related to Humane World for Animals, refer to the document available online. Less