In The Dog Wars, his terrific book about the Border Collie's battle to keep out of the clutches of the American Kennel Club, Donald McCaig includes a nice little story from Charles Dickens who wrote "Two Dog Shows" for the August 2, 1862 edition of the journal All the Year Round.
This article was instrumental in helping fund what was to become the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.
Do you want to read the entire Charles Dickens piece on the 200th Anniversary of this great writer's birth?
The good news is that you can, at this link, but let me also suggest you simply shell out a few bucks for a copy of The Dog Wars. I promise you will not be disappointed!
For those who are tight with dollars and time, however, I give you this:
“Within a mile of that great dog show at Islington, there existed another dog show of a very different kind, and forming as complete a contrast to the first as can well be imagined. For this second dog show is nothing more nor less than the show of the Lost Dogs of the Metropolis – the poor vagrant homeless curs that one sees looking out for a dinner in the gutter or curled up in a doorway taking refuge from their troubles in sleep.”
Right. Some things never change.
.
2 comments:
Mr. McCaig is one of my favorite authors on any subject. The fact that he writes about the breed closest to my heart (as well as sleeping at my feet) is a bonus.
The most important thing here is Charles Dickens' article Two Dog Shows concerning A Dog Show as was considered a dog show in Victoria's England and "dog show" at what would become Battersea Home for Dogs & Cats. He wrote in support of Mary Teadly who seemed to need all the support she could get.
Animal cruelty laws superceded any for children, something Dickens would have found ironic.
Post a Comment