490 | Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), History able to operate nationwide, and even worldwide The House Rabbit Society (HRS), a rabbit rescue organization, is one such group Originally based in the San Francisco Bay area, the group developed a nationwide mailing list, attracting members and new volunteers from around the country, leading to chapters or volunteers in almost every state With the Internet, HRS has gone international, with representatives in Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia Most rescue groups today, in fact, use the Internet for public outreach, to advertise their adoptable animals, to fundraise, and to attract supporters One important website for many groups is Petfinder, which allows those groups without their own websites or the technology to easily update a website to quickly and easily list their adoptable animals for the public to see, along with photos and, now, videos Animal rescue groups have, especially compared to breeders and pet stores, strict adoption procedures that typically include an adoption application, an interview, and often a home visit These requirements are often stricter than those found at animal shelters, and are put in place to ensure that animals end up in a safe, loving, permanent home Animal rescue groups can be found around the world today, although developing nations, which often have greater problems with stray animals, tend to have fewer groups with fewer resources Further Reading Best Friends Animal Society 2006 Not left behind: Rescuing the pets of New Orleans New York: Yorkville Press Goodman, Susan 2001 Animal rescue: The best job there is New York: Aladdin Press Petfinders www.petfinder.com Discovery Communications More than 10,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico Stallwood, Kim 2001 Speaking out for animals: True stories about people who rescue animals New York: Lantern Press Margo DeMello ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS (RSPCA), HISTORY At the beginning of the 19th century, the English would have been surprised to hear themselves praised for special kindness to animals City streets were crowded with horses and dogs that served as draft animals and beasts of burden, as well as with herds of cattle and sheep being driven to slaughter Many of these animals were obviously exhausted or in pain, as were many of the horses and donkeys used for riding Popular amusements included cockfighting, dog fighting, rat killing, bull running, and the baiting of wild animals Elsewhere in Europe, England was generally known as the hell of dumb animals, and early 19th-century English humanitarian crusaders sadly agreed with this criticism By the end of the century, however, officials of such organizations as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals routinely claimed that kindness to animals was a native English trait and that, within Europe at least, cruelty was to be associated with foreigners, especially those from southern, Catholic countries This shift in opinion reflected real changes The 19th century saw a series of administrative and legal breakthroughs with regard to the humane treatment of animals, as well as steadily widening public support for animal welfare, and for the laws and societies dedicated to pro-