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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to study the role that the development of animal welfare legislation had on shaping child protection in the United States. Although it is well known that the same individuals responsible for animal protection were involved in the subsequent creation of child welfare legislation, most historical discussions of child welfare begin only at the intervention of those individuals. We sought to combine the topics, and examine how closely the foundation of animal protection related to child protection in the United States. In order to study the ways in which the animal protective movement influenced child protection in the United States, a review of the relevant literature including books and journal articles on the topics, court cases and documents, and state and federal statutes was conducted. Through our research, we found that the framework for the creation and enforcement of child protective laws was modeled almost entirely after animal protection. Thus, we concluded that child protection in the United States would not be the same if it were not for the preceding animal protection movement. Although the two movements share roots, with time animal and child protection have diverged as a result of the notion of social work for families.