Joy Ripley was a beloved Board Member of the Alberta SPCA from 1984 to 2004 and served as President from 1998 to 2004. During her time with our organization, Joy was like an employee. She spent a great deal of time in the office working hands on with the staff to create better outcomes for animals. The Animal Welfare movement has changed immensely since the Alberta SPCA was first incorporated as a non-profit in 1959. When this organization emerged as a province-wide animal welfare organization, there wasn’t even provincial legislation in place to deal with cases of neglect. The Animal Protection Act finally came into place in 1967, and it has been updated twice since then to keep up with society’s evolving expectations for animal care.
The biggest change in animal welfare, according to former, long-time president Joy Ripley is social media.
“People know more about animal welfare now,” says Ripley, “or they seem more aware of it, anyway.”
Mediums like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, along with the Alberta SPCA’s website and E-newsletters, allow our organization to have instant contact with our supporters. These tools also give supporters and the public in general the ability to offer immediate feedback.
“Your outreach is so much greater than just advertising in your newsletter or trying to get friends to bring in friends,” says Ripley. “So many more people are aware and they’re learning so much more about animals as live, feeling beings and needing all of us to accept responsibility for their welfare and their care.”
Humane Education
Those social channels have also allowed the Alberta SPCA to extend its educational reach. The Education Department was launched in the 1980s and Ripley notes the importance of developing a mindset of compassion for animals at an early age.
“People have to be given an opportunity to learn, to understand,” explains Ripley. And when that happens, “…children grow up with that mindset [of compassion for animals] automatically.”
The Alberta SPCA expanded our Education Department in 2007 and currently employs two fulltime teachers to work with educators to ensure they have the tools and resources in their classrooms to teach humane education principles.
History
Those social channels have also allowed the Alberta SPCA to extend its educational reach. The Education Department was launched in the 1980s and Ripley notes the importance of developing a mindset of compassion for animals at an early age.
“People have to be given an opportunity to learn, to understand,” explains Ripley. And when that happens, “…children grow up with that mindset [of compassion for animals] automatically.”
The Alberta SPCA expanded our Education Department in 2007 and currently employs two fulltime teachers to work with educators to ensure they have the tools and resources in their classrooms to teach humane education principles.
