Doggone!

January 1950

The earliest reports of The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) operating in Singapore date as far back as 1878, when 84 cases of animal ill-treatment were reported, mainly of oxen, birds and ponies. But it seemed to disappear until 1947, when an Englishwoman, Lucia Bach, revived it. Here, men from the SPCA can be seen catching a stray dog. The organisation was formally established in Orchard Road in 1954 and received its first official vehicle donation. It also hired a telephone operator and a driver. In 1994, the SPCA proposed an increase in penalties for causing harm to animals. Penalties were subsequently increased from a $500 fine and six-month jail term to a $10,000 fine and a one-year jail term. From its humble beginnings with a handful of volunteers, it's now a force to be reckoned with - for those mean to animals, that is.