 The Society began with the goal of regulating the use of animals in science and society.After a few years, the intention switched from regulation to the complete abolition of vivisection in scientific testing.The first two members – Caroline Earle White and Mary Frances Lowell – worked with their husbands in the Pennsylvania Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA), yet felt that their capabilities extended beyond what the PSPCA had to offer and, in 1869, founded the Women's Branch of the PSPCA (today known as the Women's Humane Society).