William Alexander Mackinnon

Philanthropic

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Chairman

Founded as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1824; granted royal status by Queen Victoria in 1840 and became the RSPCA.

Notes

Mackinnon chairman of the SPCA [dates?]; in 1837 said: 'I cannot but think that benevolence to our species, and humanity to the brute creation, go hand in hand, and that it is impossible for an individual to possess the one virtue without also possessing the other.' At the 1837 Annual Meeting of the Society; cited in Chien-hui Li, 'The animal cause and its greater traditions', History & Policy paper: http://www.historyandpolicy.org/papers/policy-paper-19.html; accessed 25 March 2010.