Run, Spot, Run: The Ethics of Keeping Pets by Jessica Pierce

Author:Jessica Pierce [Pierce, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: azw, epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780226209920
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2016-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

33. Rage against the Dying

I won’t do what you tell me.

Rage Against the Machine

July 5, 1877, was to be a hard day. It was set aside by city authorities in New York for the destruction of unlicensed dogs in the city. Crowds gathered at the East Sixteenth Street pound as the work was scheduled to begin. It took from 7:40 in the morning until 4:30 in the afternoon to drown all 762 dogs in the East River. The next day, workers would start again with a new load of “worthless dogs” picked up by a small army of city dogcatchers. A New York Times story described the event:

A large crate, seven feet long, four high and five broad, made of iron bars set three inches apart, was rolled up the aisles [of the pound], and the dogs, about 48 at a time, were dropped into it through a sliding top door. The crate was then wheeled out to the water’s edge, where it was attached to a crane, elevated, swung out and dropped into the river, where it was kept submerged 10 minutes, then it was lifted up, emptied and returned for another load . . . The dogs seemed to know their fate, and most of them sullenly submitted to it; but many crouched down desperately in their corners and made a most ferocious and dangerous resistance . . . and steel “dog forks” had to be often brought into use. . . . There was one female with eight puppies that was especially hard to handle . . . she actually forced the other dogs within to crowd upon top of one another and give her little family plenty of room.1

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.