Delaware SPCA - New Castle County

P.O. Box 6067
newark, Delaware 19804
Phone: 302-998-2281
Website: www.delspca.org/


The Delaware Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a private non-profit organization incorporated in l873.

A list of our leadership over the years reads like a history of Delaware itself, with such names as Bringhurst, Canby, duPont, Maull, Shortlidge and Warner , to name a few.

The Society actually began with the concern of Ferris Bringhurst, a local pharmacist, over the plight of dumb animals. Livestock from the rural areas that were being driven into Wilmington for market, were often beaten and left for hours without water. Dog fights and cock fights were common forms of entertainment during that time. Rabies was a periodic and continuing problem.

In providing clean water for horses through the Fountain Society, and in l879 employing an agent to enforce cruelty laws ( 27 arrests were logged and there were 25 convictions) the Society began to serve Delaware. Humane Education was undertaken in the late l800's and continues today.

As in l873, our goals remain the same, the humane treatment of all animals through education, adoption, neutering, legislation and enforcement. Shelters have been erected, rabies clinics held, animal control officers employed, low cost neutering clinics held, and an ongoing purpose of "caring." The original 1874 motto is still as appropriate as it was then. "Give the beast his right as well as man"