The founding of the ASPCA reflected a change in how animals were viewed in law and society. Recognizing them as sentient beings is paramount.

Follow the page for more daily history!

#ASPCA #AnimalWelfare #History #AnimalRights #HenryBergh

digital watercolor illustration of an alleyway in a poor neighborhood in the 19th century where a ragpicker has a muzzled dog harnessed to a cart piled high with rags. Two stray dogs wander through the alley. In the background, a woman in a long dress is beating dust out of a rug, while on a rickety wooden porch, a little girl holds a doll. On another porch, a young boy is looking at one of the stray dogs. Laundry is strung out to dry across the alley.

One of the illustrations I created for "Mercy: The Incredible Story of Henry Bergh," by Nancy Furstinger, published in 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This scene shows the poor working conditions of the dogs forced to pull heavy rag carts operated by the ragpicker. #KidLIt #KidLitArt #HenryBergh