Who started the humane society?
We human beings can be cruel and brutal, rude and cowardly. We also can be kind and courteous, thoughtful and brave. Naturally, we like to stress our best qualities. We call them humane and humane societies expect us to show these best human qualities toward children and animals. Every corner of our country has its humane society and there are humane societies in every civilized land. The story began in England some 200 years ago. As it unfolded, the good grown ups around the world took sides against the bad grown ups. Humane societies work to prevent and to punish cruelty to helpless children and animals. It was started by an English lawman named Jeremy Bentham. He said that laws should be passed to punish the cruel and stupid owners who beat and overworked their farm animals. He also said that if young children learned kindness to animals they would become better adults. Many sensible people were stirred by this talk. Many were shocked when Lord Erskine listed some of these cruelties
