In 1911 OneKind was founded by sisters Netta and Elizabeth Ivory under the name of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Vivisection (SSPV).

In 1900, Netta Ivory had taken a dog to be humanely put down, and was horrified to witness the dogs’ reaction to strychnine, which was used at the time and which caused convulsions. This experience caused her to question how she could help dogs, and other animals, particularly when it came to vivisection, which she felt was the worst cruelty.

This interest led to a meeting with barrister Stephen Coleridge and the founding of the Scottish branch of the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS). In December 1911 this organisation was dissolved and the Scottish Co-operative Anti-Vivisection Society was formed. This was renamed the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Vivisection (SSPV).

The first SSPV office was the Ivory residence where Netta and her sister lived. In 1913 a Glasgow office was opened, as well as a second one in Edinburgh, on 10 Queensferry Street, which remained the home of the charity until 2015.

At the start, the SSPV was almost entirely run by women, many of whom were also active in the women’s suffrage movement.

Main photo - Miss Elizabeth Ann Ivory and Miss Janet (Netta) Hunter Ivory © OneKind