On this day in vegan history · July 22, 1822
Britain Passes the First Animal Welfare Law
A bill to spare cart horses and cattle the whip became, almost by accident, the world's first statute against cruelty to animals.
The facts
- Royal assent
- July 22, 1822 (3 Geo. 4 c. 71)
- Long title
- An Act to prevent the cruel and improper Treatment of Cattle
- Promoter
- Richard Martin MP, known as Humanity Dick
- Covered
- Ox, cow, heifer, steer, sheep, and other cattle
On July 22, 1822, the British Parliament gave royal assent to what is formally titled An Act to prevent the cruel and improper Treatment of Cattle. It is remembered as Martin's Act, after Richard Martin, the Irish MP known as Humanity Dick who pushed it through. The law covered working animals: oxen, cows, horses, sheep, and other cattle, the animals that pulled carts and filled markets. It was narrow by later standards and it left out a great deal, but it did something no law had done before. It made cruelty to an animal a punishable offence. Martin then made the point in person, hauling a mistreated donkey into court so the magistrate could see the case for himself.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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An Act to prevent the cruel and improper Treatment of Cattle
Long title of the 1822 statute, known as Martin's Act
Source: Wikipedia -
It is the first known piece of animal welfare legislation in the world.
Wikipedia, on the Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act 1822
Source: Wikipedia
Why it still matters
Martin's Act established the principle that the law can protect an animal from its owner, the foundation every later cruelty statute builds on. Two years after it passed, the campaigners enforcing it founded the society that became the RSPCA.
Sources
This history is still being written.
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