Each issue opens by quoting from the Act of Parliament: "if any person shall cruelly beat, ill-treat, over-drive, abuse, or torture, or cause or procure to be cruelly beaten, ill-treated, over-driven, abused, or tortured, an Animal, every such offender shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay a penalty not exceeding Five Pounds." 

The periodical urges people to "co-operate with the Society and the Police in enforcing the above law, and...not to be deterred from interfering, when they observe acts of cruelty, by a little personal trouble. A remonstrance from a casual passer-by will often suffice to check offenders, or if that fail, the offence may be punished, or its recurrence prevented, if reported accurately and promptly to the Society" (1870-1890).