Kill Cats And Dogs

[NoviVespa]

Heard this on the radio, but, could not find it on the internet.
Seems during WWII, the government asked people of London to kill their cats and dogs.
They played up that it would be humane because of the shortage of food during WWII.

[Frank Capua]

I imagine meat had to have been in really extreme short supply. Still it's probably just a coincidence that Churchill's dog was named Bangers.

[Tifositoo]

There was a period of time early in the war when German U-Boats were decimating Allied shipping; Britain was in danger of starving to death. I believe this was during the winter of '41-42, but it might have been a little earlier. Liberty ships, better radar/sonar and US involvement helped to save the day...soon, the U-Boats were the ones being decimated.


Dan

[Tifositoo]

I found an entry that has some light to shed on the matter,but in an indirect manner...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/25/a8633225.shtml

Also found some vague references to a suspected plague of rabies from France, but this turned out to be propaganda, maybe even from the British Government.


Dan

[Red Byrd]

Not to mention that animals were not as... anthropomorphized as they are now. Killing an animal so humans could eat was a no brainer for them.

[Tifositoo]

Another potential problem was the unpredictable nature of the animals' reactions to the bombing and anti-aircraft fire...a beloved pet might turn on its owner if it felt threatened; and who would care for the animal if its owner was killed? And, there was enough carnage to deal with without the added burden of removing and disposing of dead animal carcasses in a sanitary manner.




Dan

[mclarke]

I don't understand the logic. Wouldn't you keep the dogs and cats around as a potential food source if things started to get worse ?

If the cats fed on rats and the dogs fed on cats, you have a readily available source of protein while also ensuring that the rodent population doesn't get out of hand.

Seems eminently practical.