Celebrating 75 years of animal welfare in Aiken
This Thursday, April 22, the Aiken SPCA celebrates its 75th birthday. The organization was founded in 1935 by four women who were seasonal residents from New York City.
Mrs. William Breese, Miss Louise Ford, Mrs. Fitch Gilbert and Mrs. Arthur Iselin saw a need for helping animals in Aiken and created the Aiken County Society for Preventing Cruelty to Animals in an effort to find homes for homeless pets in the county.
In their hometown of New York City, they were familiar with the ASPCA, the group that runs commercials nationally that you’ve likely seen, and they took some of their ideas to start a group here in Aiken.
Everyone might not realize that the Aiken SPCA isn’t affiliated with the ASPCA, and the Aiken SPCA receives no funding from the ASPCA.
The timing was not the best for starting a charity back in 1935. The country was right in the middle of the Great Depression, with unprecedented poverty and unemployment.
Thankfully, these ladies found other people to help through fostering and adopting, and this laid the foundation for the organization we have today.
In the early years, some of the Aiken events were even featured in The New York Times, highlighting our annual dog shows in the Times’ social pages as far back as 1938.
The Aiken SPCA was actually the sponsor of what was billed as the largest polo pony show of its kind, held in Aiken in April 1939, with well-known Aiken names participating, such as Pete and Dunbar Bostwick, William Chisholm and Thomas Hitchcock Jr.
In the early years, many animals in shelters weren’t even spayed or neutered, rather just kept there to keep homeless pets from wandering the streets as a public safety issue. Some, but not many, were adopted out to homes, unaltered, with the hopes of at least keeping the girls and boys separated.
Through the decades, technologies improved and pets that were adopted began to be “fixed” and tattooed for identification in their ears. More and more people brought their dogs and cats inside their homes to join the family. People started fencing their yards, so “Fido” didn’t wander off.
For many years, the Aiken SPCA was located on Banks Mill Road, a little south of South Boundary.
Some of you reading this story may have been to this site, where today a beautiful home and stable sits. One of our supporters recently told me about a nice donkey that just passed away a few years ago which she adopted from the Aiken SPCA at that location in 1979.
In 1981, we moved up to our current site at 401 Wire Road by building a new shelter and a small spay and neuter clinic thanks to some generous donors.
In 1989, we added a three-stall horse barn on our site thanks to even more help from local philanthropists.
At our new site, we moved from tattoos to microchipping pets, helping make it much easier and faster to reunite a lost pet with its owner.
Fast forward to present day and we’re looking to soon build the new Aiken SPCA shelter and regional spay and neuter clinic that is designed to last 60 years or more.
You’ve likely heard about many of the wonderful components of this project that will improve the quality of life for homeless animals and for others coming through the clinic.
More than 400 residents have signed up dogs to come out and play at Aiken’s first dog park, a great partnership among the City of Aiken, the Aiken SPCA and private supporters.
Seeing all of the dogs playing in the splash pool or chasing a tennis ball down the hill is always a great sight to see.
Looking back at our history, thinking about the thousands and thousands of dogs, cats, horses, pigs, goats, rabbits, birds and others that we’ve found homes for through the years, gives us a great sense of pride.
The support of our wonderful volunteers and generous supporters are the main reason we have lasted all these years.
We’re excited about the future of animal welfare here in Aiken and beyond.
Thank you all in your efforts to help the Aiken SPCA help animals these past 75 years.
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