The Dog and Cat Massacre of September 1939 and the People's War

Abstract

During the first week of the Second World War around 400,000 companion animals in London alone were killed at their owner's behest. This was not a state directive. Little is known of this event although details of what was called at the time the pet ‘Holocaust’ or ‘Cat and Dog Massacre’ were not suppressed. Far from the Home Front of the Second World War in Britain being a ‘People's War’, as popularly described, in different ways the animal–human relationship was prominent. The massacre – and subsequent animal–human relationships – tends to undermine the notion of both a positive and exclusively human ‘People's War’.

Keywords::

• massacre
• animals
• dogs
• Home Front
• Second World War

Acknowledgements

Thanks to: the Battersea Dogs' Home and RSPCA for allowing me access to their records; helpful archivists at BBC sound archives, Bishopsgate Institute, Imperial War Museum, Mass Observation; Gwen Brown, Steve Mills, Neil Pemberton, Alison Skipper and Julie-Marie Strange.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

^1. In an important wartime study of the experience of evacuated children, many stated that what they missed were their pets, eliding the animals with their sense of home. The survey of children evacuated from Islington and Tottenham to Cambridge noted that the third most mentioned “miss” for girls was pets, and for boys the eighth; Isaacs, Cambridge Evacuation, 68, 70.

^2. “Safe …,” Daily Mirror, 4 September 1939, 6.

^3.Copy of letter to Miss Beryl Myatt, 21 September 1940, Imperial War Museum, 05/56/12.

^4. “By the dog that Ribbentrop deserted!,” Daily Mirror, 7 September 1939, 10.

^5.Daily Mirror, 8 September 1939, 1.

^6.Turner, Phoney War, 114.

^7.Kirby and Moss, Animals were There, 18–19; Clabby, A History, 41.

^8.Times, 7 September 1939, 3. The Veterinary Record had estimated that in London the number of “small animals alone is stupendous.” See British Veterinary Association, “ARPs for Animals,” 789. The Veterinary Record had estimated that in Greater London alone there were 73,000 horses, cattle, sheep and pigs and 2,000,000 dogs and cats. See British Veterinary Association, “Animals and ARPs,” 1011.

^9. Gilbert gives 60,595 as the total number of “civilian deaths by bombing;” Gilbert, Second World War, 746. This figure is corroborated by Overy, Bombing War, 194.

^10.NCDL, “September Holocaust,” 2. Same term used in Zeigler, London at War, 74; Calder, People's War, 34; Cox, Diary, 15 September 1939.

^11.Shirer, Berlin Diary, 19 April 1940, 319.

^12.Jackson, Fall of France, 174–82. Thanks to Steve Mills for this reference.

^13.Anon., A Woman in Berlin, 54.

^14. See, in particular, Calder, People's War.

^15.Fudge, Pets, 109.

^16. Thanks to Neil Pemberton for his comments.

^17.Kean “Challenges.”

^18. See, for example, The Animal Studies Group, Killing Animals.

^19.Cooper, Animals in War; Gardiner, The Animals' War.

^20. See, for example, Grier, Pets;Kete, The Beast; Ritvo, Animal Estate.

^21.Howell, “The Dog Fancy;” Kirk, “In Dogs We Trust?;” Lemish, War Dogs.

^22. Gilbert, Second World War, 17.

^23. The figure of 750,000 was given by Sir Robert Gower, president of the RSPCA (British Veterinary Association, “RSPCA annual general meeting”). The RSPCA's own commemorative post-war book Animals were There, gave the figure of 400,000 pet animals killed in the first four days of the war, in Greater London. (Kirby and Moss, Animals were There, 18–19).

^24. It is difficult to calculate the routine figure for pet slaughter since not all charities provided them. Suffice it to say that killing of companion animals was a routine practice. During 1937 the RSPCA killed 61,179 cats and dogs at its headquarters and 43,505 at its branch clinics, some 104,684 in total. Police in London took stray dogs (and cats) to the Battersea Dogs home (and its branch in Bow). If they were not retrieved after a few days they would be killed. In 1937, 3125 dogs and 2034 cats were brought in by their owners for killing at Battersea and 435 dogs and 229 cats in Bow. In the same year 11,166 stray dogs and 881 stray cats were killed at Battersea and 6222 stray dogs and 103 stray cats at Bow. To this total overall figure of 116,499 (Battersea and RSPCA combined) of animals killed by their owners need to be added the strays, who were often animals dumped by owners, of 18,371. However, there is no specific way of telling why the animals were killed so the figures will include elderly or very sick animals. In addition the NCDL, ODFL, Mayhew Home, PDSA and the Wood Green Animal Shelter provided facilities for killing pets at cheap rates. (Battersea Dogs Home, 77^thAnnual Report; 78th Annual Report; 79thAnnual Report; RSPCA, 114th Annual Report; 115th Annual Report.)

^25.Times, 7 September 1939, 3.

^26. The RSPCA had been asked to keep its clinics open 24 hours by the police in order to kill the numbers of animals brought in by owners. See, RSPCA, “Euthanasia,” 185. The RSPCA had many London clinics including those in Camberwell, Willesden, Eltham, Fulham, Islington, North Kensington, Poplar, Kilburn and Southwark. See RSPCA, 115th Annual Report, 127–8.

^27. RSPCA, “Euthanasia,” 185.

^28.PDSA, Annual Report. 4.

^29.BUAV, “Appeal from Wood Green Shelter,” 122.

^30. Forty tons of lime and additional labour and transport were needed to carry out this task. See PDSA, Annual Report, 4.This is now the site of the Ilford PDSA animal cemetery, restored with Heritage Lottery Funding in 2007.

^31.Battersea Dogs Home, 79^thAnnual Report, 24.

^32. As a result dogs were then electrocuted. See NCDL, “September Holocaust,” 2.

^33. See n. 24.

^34.Howell, “The Dog Fancy,” 564.

^35.Hansard, 29 November 1916 vol. 88 cc 344–5.

^36.Times, 29 April 1918, 11. Hansard, 14 December 1916 vol 88, cc 831–8. Although the Kennel Club had advocated measures to restrict the breeding of non-pedigree dogs in 1914–18 this was not pursued in the Second World War. Feeding Stuff for Dogs, MAF 84/61.

^37.NCDL, Annual Report, 1916, 15.

^38.Times, 28 April 1917, 8.

^39. F.W. Norris, Letter, Times, 3 May 1918, 9.

^40. RSPCA, 115^thAnnual Report, 235.

^41.NCDL, The Dogs' Bulletin, 109, 6. The NCDL also facilitated the evacuation of dogs through advertising offers of accommodation. (Annual Report 1939, 11).

^42.Battersea Dogs Home, 78^thAnnual Report, 22.

^43.ODFL, 18^thAnnual Report, 9.

^44. He undertook animal treatment (which was legally permitted albeit criticised extensively by the veterinary profession). Kean, “Vets, and Pets;” Gardiner, “The Dangerous Women of Animal Welfare.”

^45.Lloyd-Jones, Animals, 54.

^46. C. R. D. Pulling, New Scotland Yard, 24 March 1939, War: Defence Regulations, HO 144/21418.

^47. Pulling, New Scotland Yard to Col. Vince, 14 April 1939, Animals: Protection and Treatment HO 186/1417.

^48.Report of enquiry into the affairs of NARPAC, 1940, 1. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: Livestock and Dairying Correspondence, MAF 52/18.

^49. The first legislation in Britain to protect animals covered “farm” animals: significant powers to protect animals within a familial setting did not start to be developed until the second decade of the twentieth century. Kean, Animal Rights, 31–2, 144; http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/1-2/27

^50. NARPAC, Wartime Aid, 5.

^51. Ibid.

^52. Cox, Diary, 15 September 1939. This was also emphasised in a radio broadcast of Christopher Stone on 19 November 1939. Animals: Protection and Treatment, HO 186/1417.

^53.Partridge, A Pacifist's War, 13 March 1942, 128.

^54. The state, having decided not to provide washing facilities, anticipated concerns about body vermin and problems of emptying “closets.” There were fewer infestations than had been expected. O'Brien, Civil Defence, 517–36.

^55. Professional opinion varied on whether such items were useful or not. Image of gas-proof shelter available from the PDSA, The Daily Mirror, 9 September 1939, 8. The RSPCA cautioned against gas shelters for animals on the grounds that if humans were killed in a raid rescuers would not necessarily realise an animal was in the rumble and would be overlooked and possibly starve. (RSPCAAnimals, 2). The NCDL recommended that pets shared an owner's gas-proof shelter or other shelter. (NCDL, Air Raid Precautions). See also Woon, Hell Came, 52.

^56. Over half of London's population would never use communal shelters and only 4% used Tubes regularly for shelter (Kirkham, “Beauty and Duty,” 123). Even in central London during November 1940, after a month in which there had been aerial bombardment every night, only 9% of people went to public and 27% to private shelters, while 64% stayed in their homes or were on duty. Addison, “National Identity,” 226; The Official Story of the Civil Defence of Britain (1942), 68 as quoted in Schmideberg, “Some Observations,” 147.

^57.NAVS, Editorial, Animals' Defender (October 1940), 45.

^58.Mackay, Half the Battle, 9, 18, 31; Bourke, Fear, 222–54; Trotter, Panic, 192.

^59.Times, 7 September 1939, 3.

^60.Spillane, “A Survey of the Literature of Neuroses,” 3.

^61.Bion, “The War,” 183, 190–5. As Lees-Milne described fire watching at the National Trust office: “I am far better in raids when I have something to do, especially when others lose their heads. Fear then seems driven away by farce”; Lees-Milne, Prophesying Peace, 22. A similar concern had been recognised by Mass Observation in their analysis of morale in the months before the war. Passivity was seen negatively; a sense of helplessness was expressed by half of their interviewees. Madge and Harrisson, Britain by Mass Observation, 48–50.

^62. Mackay, Half the Battle, 20.

^63. Bourke, Fear, 228.

^64.Glover, “Notes,” 133.

^65. Bion, “The War,” 190.

^66. Transcript of BBC radio broadcast, “The World Goes By,” 27 March 1940, BBC sound archives.

^67.Douglas, Chronicles, 17 and ODFL, 18^thAnnual Report, 1938, 9.

^68. Douglas, Chronicles, 17.

^69. By November 1940 Hackbridge kennels were taken over by NARPAC: Minutes NARPAC F & GP committee 7 November 1940, HO 186/1418; PDSA statement 12 May 1939 re. compiling register of accommodation HO 186/1417. Pulling, New Scotland Yard to Vince Home Office 14 April 1939 stated animal-welfare societies “are willing to undertake work of registering, collecting, labelling, conveyance and arranging for accommodation out of London for animals in good condition.” HO 186/1417.

^70. Lloyd-Jones, Animals, 89.

^71. Lloyd-Jones, Animals, 109, 110.

^72.Sewell, Outsider, 25.

^73. Meryon, Diary, May 12; May 13; 2 September; 4 September; 23 October 1939.

^74. I am extremely grateful to both Gwen Brown who took time to respond to my queries and to her daughter Alison Skipper who transcribed her mother's account.

^75. Script of Christopher Stone radio broadcast on NARPAC, 19 November 1939, HO 186/1417.

^76. M 60 C 14 JS, 27 August 1941, Survey of non-dog owners, Dogs in Wartime, TC 79/1/E.

^77. M 45 D no 30, 27 August 1941, Dogs in Wartime, TC 79/1/E.

^78. NCDL, “Repeat Report” (13 February 1941) in Dogs in Wartime, TC 79/1/A.

^79. Analysis sheet, Dogs in Wartime, TC 79 / 1/ D, 23 July 1941.

^80. F 40E Euston, 11–14 July 1941, Pilot survey, Dogs in Wartime, TC 79 1/B.

^81.Fudge, Pets, 27.

^82. Croucher, in Hostettler, The Island at War, 31.

^83. See Kean, “The Home Front.”

^84.RSPCA, Animals and Air Raids, 3–4; CPL “Wartime Problems 3: Sedatives,” The Cat (September 1940), 138–9; NCDL, Air Raid Precautions for Dogs. See also Kean, “Nervous Dogs.”

^85. Report on questions to dealers (30 July 1941), Dogs in Wartime TC79/1/C, Mass Observation.

^86.RSPCA, Annual Report, 117^th, 1940. NARPAC and animal charities suggested ways in which foods such as mashed butter beans and rice with water from stewed stinging nettles, dandelions, swede or turnip tops could be made palatable for dogs. The NCDL reminded people that offal, horse flesh and bones from the butcher could be used for canine feeding. NARPAC, Wartime, 14; RSPCA, Animals and Air Raids, 5; NCDL, Breadless Diets for DogsNCDL leaflet no 492 nd (1942).

^87. 20 February 1942, Burt to Minister Sir John Bodinnar, Feeding Stuff for Dogs, MAF 84/61.

^88. Of which around 170,000 tons were carbohydrates and the remainder proteins, Minute 94, 29 July 1942, Feeding Stuff for Dogs, MAF 84/61.

^89. 4 August 1942, Minister's Secretary, Mr Broadley's response to Burt's proposals. Feeding Stuff for Dogs, MAF 84/61.

^90. Similarly plans to limit people to the ownership of one dog per person through forms of licensing were rejected both because it would be difficult to implement and because it was understood that people would employ evasive action to ensure that their dogs were not removed. (Minute 94, 29 July 1942, Feeding Stuff for Dogs MAF 84/61.)

^91. Letter to principal officers at Cambridge and Tunbridge Wells from D. J. Lidbury, Ministry of Home Security, 20 June 1940; Letter to Mr Snelling 24 June 1940 from A. Johnston, Home Office, “Correspondence regarding evacuation 1940,” Animals: National ARP Animals Committee: Disposal of Animals HO 186/1419.

^92. Letter from Colonel Stordy of NARPAC to chief constables 13 July 1940; “Correspondence regarding evacuation,” Animals: National ARP Animals Committee: Disposal of Animals HO 186/1419.

^93. File note of meeting with A.W. Moss of RSPCA, 22 November 1941; Note from Snelling to Sir Gordon Johnson, 12 October 1942, “Correspondence regarding evacuation,” Animals: National ARP Animals Committee: Disposal of Animals, HO 186/1419.

^94. Script of Christopher Stone radio broadcast 19 November 1939, Animals: Protection and Treatment, HO 186/1417.

^95.Times, 16 November 1939, 6.

^96. Douglas, Chronicles, 19.

^97. Ibid.

^98.Harrisson, Living through the Blitz, 51.

^99.Parker, “The Dickin Medal;” Kean, “Animals and War Memorials.”

^100.Kean, “Challenges,” 57–72.

^101. This argument is further developed in my book on the massacre and the animal–human relationship during the war to be published by University of Chicago Press.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hilda Kean

Hilda Kean is Visiting Professor of History at the University of Greenwich and an an Honorary Senior Research Associate at University College London. She has published widely on cultural/public history and on non-human animals. Her many books include Animal Rights: Political and Social Change in Britain since 1800 (2000), London Stories. Personal Lives, Public Histories (2004) and Public History and Heritage Today. People and their Pasts (edited with Paul Ashton, 2012). She is currently finishing a book for the University of Chicago Press on the Cat and Dog Massacre and the changing animal–human relationship during the 1939–45 war. She can be contacted via her website http://hildakean.com/