Bands of Mercy were formal, locally led organizations that brought people—especially children and adolescents—together to learn about kindness to non-human animals. The Bands would also work to help animals and prevent cruelty in their area through

humane education Humane education is broadly defined as education that nurtures compassion and respect for living beingsUnti, B. & DeRosa, B. (2003). Humane education: Past, present, and future. In D. J. Salem & A. N. Rowam (Eds.), ''The State of the Animals II: 2 ...

and direct action.

Creation

Modelled after the

Band of Hope Hope UK is a United Kingdom Christian charity based in London, England which educates children and young people about drug and alcohol abuse. Local meetings started in 1847 and a formal organisation was established in 1855 with the name The United ...

of the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

, the first Bands of Mercy were created in 1875, by the philanthropist

Catherine Smithies Catherine Smithies (; 1785 – 1877) was an English philanthropist and campaigner for animal welfare, abolitionism and temperance. She was the creator of the first Band of Mercy, which promoted teaching children kindness towards non-human animal ...

in Britain. The first Band of Mercy was formed at the house of

Hannah Bevan Hannah Marishall Bevan or Hannah Marishall Bennett (1 February 1798 – 7 November 1874) was a British philanthropist. She visited convict ships and workhouses and was involved in creating the Band of Hope in London. Life Bevan was born in Londo ...

. The movement had a periodical, ''Band of Mercy Advocate'' (1879–1934), which was originally edited by Smithies' son Thomas Bywater Smithies. In 1882, the

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest an ...

(RSPCA) assumed responsibility for organizing and promoting the Band of Mercy and its publications. The Band of Mercy movement soon spread to Australia, Canada and US.

Movement to North America

Following the British model, George T. Angell, founder and first president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ( MSPCA), and the Rev. Thomas Timmins began the formation of Bands of Mercy in the United States in 1882. Many locally run Bands of Mercy were created across North America in the subsequent decades. By the early part of the 20th century, more than 260,000 children—about 3% of the children aged 5–9 years old in 1900—were active members in over 27,000 local Bands of Mercy across North America.

Activities

Angell said that the goals of the Bands of Mercy were to "teach and lead every child and older person to seize every opportunity to say a kind word or do a kind act that will make some other human being or some dumb .e., that cannot speakcreature happier." A band of mercy by Sarah J

Bands of Mercy were locally organized and run, even though they often used materials that were created and distributed nationally by the MSPCA and later the ASPCA. Consequently, there were many local variations to the activities of the Bands. In general, though, Bands of Mercy would hold regular meetings that began with the members pledging: "I will try to be kind to all living creatures, and try to protect them from cruel usage." Adults would often then conduct lessons to promote kindness towards and concern for all animals. These lessons often involved reading stories and singing songs and hymns. At least two song collections made these available for Band meetings: ''Songs of Happy Life for Schools, Homes, and Bands of Mercy'' (Providence RI and London, 1897) by American Sarah J. Eddy and ''Hymns for Children with Opening and Closing Services and Songs and Hymns for Bands of Mercy and of Hope'' (London, 1894), edited by Charlotte Farrington. ''The Band of Mercy Advocate'', established by Thomas Bywater Smithies in England in 1879, printed songs in every issue. Clapp-Itnyre writes that singing filled a crucial void: "to bring language--and aesthetically pleasing language at that--to a population of animals unable to speak in their own defense." Membership was not limited to children and adolescents; adults would hold officer positions and would use the Bands as a forum to discuss animal cruelty issues and how to handle them. An article dated 18 July 1899 in the ''San Francisco Call'' about their local Band of Mercy, for example, mentions members reporting on the number of animal cruelty cases that had been reported in the last year (2,379) along with the resulting numbers of prosecutions (195) and convictions (129).

Post-War Decreases

Prior to the world wars, humane education—and the Bands of Mercy where children learned about it—was seen by many as a possible way to create a kinder and more peaceful world. The world wars dispelled much of this belief and thus the interest in Bands of Mercy. The

red scare A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...

and the

space race The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War rivals, the United States and the Soviet Union, to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the tw ...

also focused much of U.S. education towards math and science, further reducing the immediate post-war interest in Bands of Mercy. In addition, the creation and maintenance of the Bands of Mercy was primarily driven by

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

organizations; as their attention and goals shifted away from early prevention to active intervention in abuse, much of the energy behind the Bands of Mercy dissipated.Unti, B. & DeRosa, B. (2003). Humane education: Past, present, and future. In D. J. Salem & A. N. Rowam (Eds.), ''The State of the Animals II: 2003'' (pp. 27 – 50). Washington, D.C.: Humane Society Press Although membership in the Bands of Mercy faded dramatically after World War II,

continued in many other forms. It continues to be practised around the world, and may be experiencing especially strong growth in China and Japan.

Creation

Movement to North America

Activities

Post-War Decreases

References

Further reading