The Carnival of the Animals on 2 April at the home of Pauline Viardot with an audience including Franz Liszt, a friend of the composer, who had expressed a wish to hear the work. There were other private performances, typically for the French mid-Lent festival of , but Saint-Saëns was adamant that the work would not be published in his lifetime, seeing it as detracting from his "serious" composer image. He relented only for the famous cello solo "The Swan", which forms the penultimate movement of the work, and which was published in 1887 in an arrangement by the composer for cello and solo piano
Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad prevent unnecessary harm to working animals. In 2005, SPANA treated over 370,000 animals in countries like Morocco, Mali, Mauritania, Algeria, Tunisia, Syria, Ethiopia and Jordan. Notable supporters of the charity include Prince Asem bin Al Nayef, SPANA's honorary president in Jordan; Lady Odile Slynn, a former president of SPANA, Francis Newall, 2nd Baron Newall, the current president of SPANA; John Craven, a patron of the charity; and Jim Broadbent, who presented a programme about the work of SPANA on "This Morning" in March 2006. Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad The Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA)