[1] The emergence of an anti-cruelty organisation in Tasmania is partly due to the intellectual currents that developed in England over the maltreatment of animals in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.
[3] The first successful passage of anti-cruelty legislation in the British parliament occurred in 1822[4] under the direction of the Irish politician Richard Martin (1754-1834) who was nicknamed by King George IV as "Humanity Dick.
"[5] Around the same time that Martin was drafting his anti-cruelty Bill, the Reverend Arthur Broome (1779-1837) had letters published in periodicals in which he canvassed for expressions of interest in forming a voluntary organisation to promote animal welfare and oppose cruelty.
[7] Broome made a renewed attempt and distributed invitations so that a number of social reformers gathered on 16 June 1824 at Old Slaughter's Coffee House, London to create a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Among the others who were present as founding members were Sir James Mackintosh MP, Richard Martin, William Wilberforce, Basil Montagu, John Ashley Warre, Rev.
[11] The earliest piece of colonial legislation that carried penalties for some forms of cruelty toward animals was passed in Tasmania (then called Van Diemen's Land) in 1837.
[15] The Tasmanian SPCA was created at a public meeting on Friday 19 July 1878 that was chaired by the Governor Frederick Weld (1823-1891) and other prominent figures included Sir James Milne Wilson (1812-1880) and the Anglican Dean of Hobart Rev.
"[19] The Society's early efforts included witnesses reporting to the police incidents of cruelty and the publication of literature encouraging children to act kindly toward animals.
[31] RSPCA Tasmania has invited the public via its website to participate in campaigns that oppose the use of whips in horse racing and calling for government intervention on unlicensed puppy farm breeding.
[39] Director John Bates also resigned from the state board in 2009 and later had his membership revoked and was disallowed from volunteering at the Hobart RSPCA shelter after he raised concerns about management of donations by the branch.
On the same day with unanimous support it was moved by the State Parliament that the affairs of RSPCA Tasmania and the usage of tax payer money be investigated by the Public Accounts Committee.
[48] In November 2012 the board of RSPCA Tasmania sacked its CEO Ben Sturges (son of the MP Graeme Sturges) after an independent investigation by James O'Neill and Associates that alleged he had bullied and threatened staff and their jobs, made derogatory comments about the RSPCA Tasmania board and withheld information from them, deleted portions of emails and destroyed a work laptop.