1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Angell, George Thorndike

ANGELL, GEORGE THORNDIKE (1823–1909), American philanthropist, was born at Southbridge, Massachusetts, on the 5th of June 1823. He graduated at Dartmouth in 1846, studied law at the Harvard Law School, and in 1851 was admitted to the bar in Boston, where he practised for many years. In 1868 he founded and became president of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in the same year establishing and becoming editor of Our Dumb Animals, a journal for the promotion of organized effort in securing the humane treatment of animals. For many years he was active in the organization of humane societies in England and America. In 1882 he initiated the movement for the establishment of Bands of Mercy (for the promotion of humane treatment of animals), of which in 1908 there were more than 72,000 in active existence. In 1889 he founded and became president of the American Humane Education Society. He became well known as a criminologist and also as an advocate of laws for the safeguarding of the public health and against adulteration of food. He died at Boston on the 16th of March 1909.