Contrary to popular belief, instead of cats and dogs, the first American animal activists focused mostly on horses, working tirelessly to protect the welfare of animals who were a key mode of transportation.

Then, upon April 14, 1869, Caroline Earle White and a group of women established what’s now considered the first American pet shelter, in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. In addition to horses, its mission expanded “to provide as soon as possible, a refuge for lost and homeless dogs, where they could be kept until homes could be found for them, or they become otherwise disposed of. ”

It marked a turning point. The notion of a shelter, or even a municipal pound, as a place where you could go and find a pet, according to historian Bernie Unti, really took hold in the latter part of the 19th century and then has grown steadily ever since.

So to celebrate how far we’ve come, we at Bored Panda are continuing our monthly series, and have compiled the sweetest pet adoption photos all of us could find. Continue scrolling to check them out and in case you’ve missed our earlier publications, we all kindly invite you to catch up: October , September , plus August .

For everyone who is thinking of (or has just) invited a new critter into their home, we also had a chat about making the particular transition as smooth because possible with the People’s Dispensary with regard to Sick Animals (PDSA) , a veterinary charity in the United Kingdom. You’ll discover it spread in between the images.