Building a healthy and happy community where pets and people thrive for 125 years.
On March 7, 2024, Anti-Cruelty marks its 125th anniversary as Chicago's oldest and most comprehensive animal welfare organization. Throughout this momentous celebratory year, we are thrilled to share our rich history as a Chicago institution as well as our plans to continue providing the BEST Care for pets, people, and the Chicagoland community.
Anti-Cruelty has been on the forefront of animal welfare and humane education since it was founded in 1899. As one of Chicago’s oldest animal welfare organizations, our history is as large as our hearts. What started with just a single meeting would grow to be an entire community selflessly committed to helping pets and educating people.
Program initiatives for best care for animals:
Renovate and Upgrade Animal Housing Rooms
- With renovated and upgraded animal housing rooms, AC can tackle the largest problem facing sheltering: length of stay. Reducing length of stay through facilities that are a model in the science of sheltering, will have lifesaving effects on the animals in AC’s care.
- Upgrades to Grand & LaSalle will lead to a 10-20% reduction in length of stay for cats and a 10% reduction in length of stay for dogs with the improved kennels and room adjustments.
Expand In-Shelter Veterinary Services
- Expanding in-shelter veterinary services is one of several steps AC is making in order to combat the veterinarian shortage. This will broaden the door for Chicago’s most vulnerable pets to have access to veterinary care.
Program initiatives for best care for People:
Expand Whole Family Pet Care
- Deploy an Affordable Mobile Care Clinic
- Provide in-community access to veterinary services through an affordable mobile care clinic.
- Reduce financial concerns associated with medical costs to keep pets and people together.
- Remove transportation barriers to animal care by meeting people where they are.
Program initiatives for best care for communities:
Launch the Roseland Immersion Project
- Establish a physical service center within the Greater Roseland community.
- Enhance community partnerships and provide direct support to families.
Create a Career Pet Academy
- Provide workforce development options and economic benefits to the Greater Roseland community.
Expand adoption outreach
- Add adoption locations in communities across the city to place more animals in forever homes.
500-Day Journey to 125 Steering Committee:
Dan Jaffee, Chair
Jane Luiso, AC Board Chair
Renee Beam
Sheldon Rubin, DVM
Steven Klein
Thank you for helping us celebrate 125 years of helping animals and their families at our 125th Anniversary Gala.
We hope you had a blast celebrating, reminiscing, and raising money for animals in need! Your generosity was overwhelming, and together, we raised a total of $423,570, far exceeding our goal of $250,000! Learn more here.
Anti-Cruelty: Construction Updates
In our momentous 125th year ahead, outdated spaces for animals are getting the love they deserve. With renewed dedication, we’re expanding facilities, pioneering innovative adoption programs, and enhancing animal care standards. This landmark year embodies our commitment to a brighter future for every furry friend we serve.
October 18, 2023
Phase one begins with the demolition of second level dog holding and new epoxy flooring.
October 25, 2023
Preparation for resurfacing and tiling in dog holding.
November 30, 2023
Phase 1 complete! New epoxy flooring, paint, and fun tile design bring in a fresh, bright look. Brand new dog runs to ensure our dogs experience absolute BEST Care while with us. Additional new features include a separate room for small dogs and puppies and a bold red staircase to our second floor adoption annex.
December 6, 2023
Phase 2 begins with demolition of our first floor Cat Adopts room.
December 21, 2023
Walls begin to rise for our future free-roaming cat rooms.
Anti-Cruelty: A historical overview through photos
In 1899, when The Anti-Cruelty Society elected its first president, founding member Rose Fay Thomas, it set goals and developed and adopted bylaws.
Rose Fay was married to Theodore Thomas, an orchestral conductor and the founder of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
By 1905, the Society placed hundreds of watering troughs throughout the city for thirsty workhorses.
On December 6, 1906, The Anti-Cruelty Society received a charter from the State of Illinois to conduct protective work with animals and children. In addition to its work with animals, The Anti-Cruelty Society was directly involved in the handling of child welfare cases for the next decade. The Anti-Cruelty Society also instituted a humane education campaign organizing children's chapters, distributing humane literature and providing lectures.
In 1911, The Anti-Cruelty Society purchased its first four-wheeled rescue vehicle.
In 1910, The Anti-Cruelty Society acquired a permanent home at 155 Indiana Avenue (now Grand Avenue). The building housed a kennel, administrative offices, classrooms and a humane library. That same year, 5,000 posters detailing the proper care of horses were distributed to stables across the city.
A bequest enables the completion of the Marion and Horace McConnell Memorial Building in 1936, which featured a modern clinic, surgical facilities, and a large auditorium.
In 1937 The Anti-Cruelty Society Charity Veterinary Clinic becomes one of the first facilities in the Midwest to install radiology (X-ray) equipment.
ACS’s first humane education program is held in a Chicago Public School on March 7, 1937 and they hire their first full time Humane Educator, Virginia Sedgwick.
Mrs. George M. Wisner donates a brass drinking fountain in 1946 which was preserved and re-installed in the lobby of our Adoption Center in 2016.
Due to a community-wide rabies scare in 1953, an Illinois rabies law requiring mandatory vaccination goes into effect.
A bequest from Mrs. Emily D. Hulbert allows the construction of the Hulbert Memorial Annex, providing additional kennel space. The space open in November of 1954.
In 1957, ACS is a major proponent of a state law passed making the abandonment of animals illegal in Illinois.
The Anti-Cruelty Society receives national media attention for several daring animal rescues in the 1950s and 1960s. The heroics of our ambulance drivers rescuing a dog stranded on the ice are depicted in a Dick Tracy comic strip.
In 1971, The Anti-Cruelty Society’s Spay/Neuter Subsidy Program is established.
With the help of Robert R. McCormick and other funders, a new landmark shelter for The Anti-Cruelty Society is designed by noted architect Stanley Tigerman and opens in November 1981.
In 1987, The Anti-Cruelty Society's mobile Veterinary Vaccination Clinic Van makes its debut. It travels to under-served neighborhoods helping people who cannot afford veterinary care.
The Anti-Cruelty Society remodels and expands its veterinary clinic in 1991.
May 1995 sees the first Bark in the Park, later renamed BARK: a fundraising tradition that still remains.
In August of 1999, The Anti-Cruelty Society breaks ground on a new facility, the Education and Training Center at 157 West Grand Avenue.
In March of 2023, The Anti-Cruelty Society kicks off our Journey to 125.