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Book Review
have been singled out by human beings." Her account is enlivened by illustrations, old pictures of people with their pets and advertisements for pets and pet products. She begins by explaining that pet keeping in America arrived with European settlers. The indigenous people of North America used animals for food, raw materials, and muscle power. Evidence of pet keeping in early America survives in a few written materials and in artifacts like bird cages and brass dog collars. By the 19th century there was an ethic of kindness to animals, and it was believed that caring for a pet encouraged the development of good character in children. It was not until the 20th century, however, that pet owners had access to commercially prepared food and trips to the veterinarian. A major difference in care over the years concerns reproduction. At least three-quarters of our cats and dogs kept as pets are spayed or neutered. Early pet owners just had to cope with the sexual maturity of pets. Few ordinances tried to control the wanderings of dogs and cats until about 1875 in cities, and dog fights were a common occurrence. "Some livestock animals lived on the margin of pet keeping," and it was often hard for children to know that a rabbit or pet calf would become a meal. Cats had been a method of rat control in earlier years, and pigs wandered around as refuse control. As America became more urbanized, these uses changed. What to do with animals "on the edge" of human companionship became a problem. The Victorian concept of kindness eventually condemned an early practice of wild-dog clubbing, as shelters came into being, and organizations formed to collect and keep or euthanize stray animals. Grief examines the trade in live animals and the development of the modern pet store. Providing specialized supplies and equipment became big business. Before regulations, the sale of wild birds endangered some species. Canaries were bred by small suppliers, and gold fishwere available in the dime stores. Purebred dogs became popular and expensive. One of the most entertaining chapters is about the Rankin children of the late 1800s who turned a hutch full of rabbits into a carefully documented "kingdom," which later became a republic with a constitution. The enterprise lasted a long time, perhaps because the constitution stated that "No one can sulk" in a meeting.
The story of the Bunnie States of America can be found in Pets in America, which can be found at the Mary Willis Library.
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