RSPCA WA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) has been acting in the interests of animals in Western Australia since the 19th century.
Officially founded on 2 August 1892, the then Western Australian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals emerged from a reading circle of female friends, with a membership fee of one shilling. The Society was an initiative of Miss Best, a teacher from the St George's School in Perth, who was joined by Mrs Ethel Burt, Mrs Edith Cowan (the first woman elected to an Australian parliament), Mrs Madeline Onslow and Ms Wigglesworth to form its first committee. His Excellency the Governor, Sir William Cleaver Francis Robinson, became Patron of the RSPCA in 1893.
To this day, the State's Governors provide patronage to the Society.
