1. Henry Bergh founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in April, 1866, three days after the first effective legislation against animal cruelty in the United States was passed into law by the New York State Legislature.
13 Facts About Henry Bergh
1. 2.
Later, when Bergh went to visit restaurants to monitor law enforcement, he discovered that numerous restaurants had replaced dogs with black children.
3.
Therefore, Henry Bergh prompted the formation, in 1874, of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
4.
Henry Bergh was born August 29,1813, in New York City, to Christian Bergh III and Elizabeth Bergh.
5.
Henry Bergh's father, an ethnic German, was a successful shipbuilder who had completed a series of contracts for the government.
6.
Henry Bergh attended Columbia College in New York City, but left before completing his degree, deciding instead to tour Europe, where he remained for five years.
7.
In 1862 Henry Bergh entered government service when President Abraham Lincoln appointed him secretary of the US legation in Tsarist Russia.
8.
Henry Bergh served time in St Petersburg as acting vice-consul.
9.
Henry Bergh resigned his position in 1864 owing to Russia's severe winter weather.
10.
Henry Bergh wanted to leave a fortune of $100,000 to the society.
11.
In 1873, Henry Bergh conducted a national lecture tour taking him across the American West.
12.
Henry Bergh was able to speak on the animal welfare cause before the Evangelical Alliance and the Episcopal convention, with the latter passing a resolution giving its clergy express permission to preach an annual sermon against cruelty to animals.
13.
In 1874, Henry Bergh was approached by a Methodist missionary named Etta Agnell Wheeler, who sought help rescuing a child named Mary Ellen Wilson from her cruel abuser, Mary Connolly.