| 1871 |
Victorian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (VSPCA) was established in Melbourne. Concerned for the welfare of horses in colonial Victoria, a meeting was held to discuss the plight of animals at the Assembly Hall in Collins Street, Melbourne. Sir William Foster Stawell was the first president of VSPCA and served as the President from its founding until 1886 when he retired. |
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| 1872 |
The first Annual General Meeting of the VSPCA was held at the Mechanics Institute in Collins Street on 25 July. |
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| 1877 |
The Society agreed that educating the public was more effective in achieving its objective than punishment. |
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| 1890 |
Some time before 1890 the Society had received a modest bequest of £20, the first such gift in its history. |
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| 1891 |
The government’s Treasurer heeded the Society’s supplications and credited £250 to the Society’s account. This came after 17 years of asking the government for help. |
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| 1922 |
Four women were invited to join the Committee, as the all-male Committee of the Society had felt that the work of educating children about animal welfare should be left to women. |
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| 1926 |
Our first 'shelter' was established, taking the form of a rest home for horses, located at High Street Road, Ashburton. A new era of the RSPCA began, promoting greater animal protection and care. |
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| 1931 |
In September, the ‘Tailwaggers Club’ opened. This was a fundraising activity and a way to identify lost dogs. Tailwaggers was also a radio program for more than 20 years, the first that focused on animal welfare in Australia. The first dog adoption centre opened at Burwood in 1964, was named ‘Tailwaggers’. |
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| 1933 |
The Society sought to increase the income of the Rest Home by taking in dogs for boarding. Though never wanting to take on strays, the VSPCA began to realise that well-cared-for dogs could be a source of publicity and income. The Society received a donated ambulance service for injured and diseased animals. |
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| 1943 |
The Junior VSPCA was established and proved effective in educating children on animal welfare issues. |
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| 1954 |
The VSPCA changed to The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). |
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| 1956 |
The VSPCA gained royal patronage becoming Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). |
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| 1969 |
Dr Hugh Wirth was appointed to the Committee in April. |
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| 1972 |
Dr Hugh Wirth was elected as President in September, and still is today. |
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| 1974 |
The current RSPCA’s administration building at Burwood East was opened in February. |
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| 1977 |
In February, the Women’s Auxiliary of the RSPCA (Victoria) held its first meeting and arranged to run an opportunity shop beginning in March. The Women’s Auxiliary later changed their name to RSPCA (Vic) Auxiliary to enable male participation. |
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| 1980s |
The RSPCA Clinic was finally built in the early 1980’s and in 1982 our Animal Adoption Centre opened. |
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| 1997 |
In October, the Governor of Victoria officially opened the new Animal Welfare Centre at Burwood East. |
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| 2002 |
The Education building at Burwood East was officially opened and the current CEO, Maria Mercurio, was appointed. |
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| 2006 |
RSPCA Victoria celebrated its 135th birthday and in June, the long-awaited Burwood East site redevelopment began with our new dog adoption and quarantine kennels built. RSPCA Portland also moved to a new, purpose built facility. |
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| 2007 |
We successfully campaigned the government for the introduction of compulsory microchipping for newly registered pets. |
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| 2008 |
We were involved in the international WSPA Handle with Care live export campaign. |
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| 2009 |
Our organisation took a lead role in the care of animals from the Black Saturday bushfires and we have continued to support the affected communities to this day. In this year, we also redeveloped our RSPCA Bendigo facility. |
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| 2010 |
We launched our close puppy factories campaign which resulted in promised revisions to legislation to protect dogs in these facilities and increased power for RSPCA Inspectors. |
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