Dictionary Definition
humane adj
1 pertaining to or concerned with the humanities;
"humanistic studies"; "a humane education" [syn: humanist, humanistic]
2 marked or motivated by concern with the
alleviation of suffering [ant: inhumane]
3 showing evidence of moral and intellectual
advancement
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
Variety of human.Pronunciation
-
- Rhymes: -eɪn
Adjective
- With regard for the health and well-being of
another; compassionate.
- It is no longer considered humane to perform vivisection on research animals.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Etymology
From humanusRelated terms
References
- Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)
Swedish
Adjective
- definite singular masculine form of human
Extensive Definition
A humane society may be a group that aims to stop
human or animal suffering due to cruelty or other reasons,
although in many countries it is now used mostly for societies for
the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCA's).
In the United
Kingdom it may also be a society that provides a waterways
rescue, prevention and recovery service, or that gives awards for
the saving of human life.
United Kingdom
The first Humane societies were founded in the
United
Kingdom, the Royal
Humane Society in 1774, , The Glasgow Humane Society in 1790
and the
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)
in 1824.
The Royal
Humane Society is a charity that grants awards for acts of
bravery in the saving of human and animals lives. Also for the
restoration of life by resuscitation. Since its foundation the
society has made more than 85,000 awards. The Glasgow Humane
Society is a prevention, rescue and recovery group set up to cover
the waterways of
Greater
Glasgow, Scotland
The main animal humane societies in the UK are the
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA)
(founded 1824) and its offshoots, the
Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(SSPCA) and the the
Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(USPCA). There is also the
People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), founded in 1917 to
treat the sick and injured animals of the poor, and numerous other
animal rescue charities for wildlife, working animals and domestic
pets.
United States
The first SPCA in the USA was the
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
(ASPCA), founded by Henry Bergh
in New
York in 1866. Examples of other national, nonsheltering humane
animal societies include: The
Humane Society of the United States,
American Humane which was founded in 1877 as a network of
local organizations to prevent cruelty to children and animals. The
sheltering humane societies include: Peninsula
Humane Society and
The Humane Society of Allen County. Many local humane societies
were founded earlier, and are independent of these similarly named
organizations, therefore, local humane groups called SPCA or Humane
Society are not related to the national groups such as the Humane
Society of the United States or the ASPCA. As of 2005, the Oregon Humane
Society adopts the highest percentage of animals in the U.S.
nationally with 96% for dogs
and 80% for cats.
Purpose
National organizations primarily work on "big picture" approach including research, public education and assisting local shelters and rescue groups. Local groups primarily handle the actual care (housing, adoption, and euthanasia) of animals, but their programs may also include education and outreach to the public.There are municipal and private run shelters. Not
all local groups euthanize. Municipal shelters "must" accept all
animals given up by the public, but private shelters are not
required to do so, though some have a contract with their
municipality that requires they do.
No kill policy
Some shelters refer to themselves as "no kill." However this does not necessarily mean that the problem of unwanted animals has been resolved in their community. Unless the whole community can claim that enough new good homes can be found for all the animals that are taken to shelters, "no kill" is a business choice of that particular shelter, as other shelters will likely pick up the rest of the unwanted animals in that community. Many shelters that use the terminology "no kill" actually do perform euthanasia, though usually in small numbers, and they claim only to euthanise animals that they determine are not appropriate for adoption.Canada
The first SPCA in Canada was the Canadian SPCA
founded in Montreal in 1869.
The other societies developed on a regional basis and now 123
societies are represented at a federal level by the Canadian
Federation of Humane Societies.
New Zealand
Early British
settlers brought with them the laws of England and the
English Protection of Animals Act of 1835 was adopted by New
Zealand. This was replaced by New Zealand's own Protection of
Animals Act in 1878 and the first SPCA was formed in Dunedin in 1882
quickly followed by other societies. In 1933 all the societies
amalgamated as a federation and this grew into the present day's
Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals.
The Humane Society of New Zealand was established
as a registered charity in 1975.
Australia
The first Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals (SPCA), based on the British
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA),
was set up in Victoria
in 1871, followed by other SPCA's in Tasmania in 1872,
New
South Wales in 1873, South
Australia in 1875, Queensland in
1883 and Western
Australia in 1892, with the other territories following much
later.
The SPCA's were given the Royal
Warrant in 1956 and became known as the Royal Societies for the
Protection of Cruelty to Animals, although they have no formal
connection with the RSPCA UK. The national organisation RSPCA
Australia was formed in 1981 to give a national voice on policy
matters and advise the federal government on animal welfare
issues.
References
External links
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Christian, Christlike, Christly, accepting, affectionate, altruistic, benevolent, benign, benignant, bleeding, brotherly, charitable, chickenhearted, clement, commiserative, compassionate, condolent, decent, easy, easygoing, eleemosynary, forbearant, forbearing, forgiving, fraternal, gentle, good, gracious, human, humanitarian, kind, kindhearted, kindly, kindly-disposed, lax, lenient, loving, melting, merciful, mild, moderate, nice, patient, philanthropic, pitying, ruthful, soft, softhearted, sympathetic, sympathizing, tender, tenderhearted, tolerant, understanding, warm, warmhearted