The Society's Founder was Mrs. Fannie Thompson Kessler, a preacher’s daughter from Elkhart, Indiana who became a fearless, female trailblazer.

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Born before the Civil War, in 1859, and widowed in 1895, she married Warren Kessler, a successful businessman, in 1905. She was hardworking and well-traveled. Fannie became an outspoken advocate for animal rights. She organized the American Animal Defense League to combat cruelty in the training of animals for vaudeville, movies and circuses. In 1924, at the age of 65, she founded the Alhambra-San Gabriel Humane Society, which provided services for both farm and domestic animals. The shelter doubled in size when its neighbor property was donated in the interest of Fannie’s humanitarian work.