Mercy: The Incredible Story of Henry Bergh, Founder of the ASPCA and Friend to Animals

After witnessing a man beating his horse, Henry Bergh established an agency much like England's RSPCA and championed the passage of an animal anti-cruelty law. In short chapters, Furstinger details these events, allowing descriptions of specific incidents to create drama and tension. Digitally rendered illustrations mirror mid-nineteenth-century political cartoons and color-wash engravings. A collection of archival photographs concludes the volume. Timeline. Bib., ind.

In the mid-nineteenth-century, Henry Bergh acquired his wealth the old-fashioned way: he inherited it. That money allowed him the luxury to dabble. He started college but didn't finish, wrote plays that were poorly received, and briefly served in a minor diplomatic post in Russia. While in St. Petersburg, Bergh witnessed a man cruelly beating his horse: "I...heard the cries as if they were the suffering of a tortured human. This burned like a brand in my soul." Thus Bergh stopped dabbling and became an animal protectionist, establishing an agency much like the newly formed RSPCA in England; championing the passage of an animal anti-cruelty law; and gaining the authority to find and arrest those in violation of the new statute, a responsibility he fulfilled every day. In short chapters, Furstinger details these events, allowing descriptions of specific incidents of mistreatment of animals -- blood sports of dog- and cockfighting, horses struggling to pull overloaded railway cars, the use of bull hooks on circus elephants -- and Bergh's very public interventions to create drama and tension. Digitally rendered spot art and full-page illustrations, mirroring the political cartoons and color-wash engravings of the time, decorate the book throughout; a concluding collection of archival photographs completes it. Appended with an author's note, documentation, a bibliography, and an index. betty carter