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The Great Cat & Dog Massacre: The Real Story of World War II's Unknown Tragedy (Animal Lives) Kindle Edition

by Hilda Kean (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 16 ratings
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The tragedies of World War II are well known. But at least one has been forgotten: in September 1939, four hundred thousand cats and dogs were massacred in Britain. The government, vets, and animal charities all advised against this killing. So why would thousands of British citizens line up to voluntarily euthanize household pets?

In The Great Cat and Dog Massacre, Hilda Kean unearths the history, piecing together the compelling story of the life—and death—of Britain’s wartime animal companions. She explains that fear of imminent Nazi bombing and the desire to do something to prepare for war led Britons to sew blackout curtains, dig up flower beds for vegetable patches, send their children away to the countryside—and kill the family pet, in theory sparing them the suffering of a bombing raid. Kean’s narrative is gripping, unfolding through stories of shared experiences of bombing, food restrictions, sheltering, and mutual support. Soon pets became key to the war effort, providing emotional assistance and helping people to survive—a contribution for which the animals gained government recognition.

Drawing extensively on new research from animal charities, state archives, diaries, and family stories, Kean does more than tell a virtually forgotten story. She complicates our understanding of World War II as a “good war” fought by a nation of “good” people. Accessibly written and generously illustrated, Kean’s account of this forgotten aspect of British history moves animals to center stage—forcing us to rethink our assumptions about ourselves and the animals with whom we share our homes.
 
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  1. Part of series
    Animal Lives
  2. Print length
    244 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    The University of Chicago Press
  5. Publication date
    March 14, 2017
  6. File size
    2746 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Animal Lives
Bundle price: Kindle price
$32.05
Bundle price: Kindle price
$36.79
Bundle price: Kindle price
$106.98
By clicking the above button, you agree to the Kindle Store Terms of Use

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Remarkable. . .This remarkable book begins with a shocking event: the killing of at least 400,000 pet cats and dogs in London during four days of the first week of World War II. . .Without doubt, Hilda Kean has written an original and challenging monograph whose message forces readers to rethink their attitudes about themselves and the animals around them.” ― Cercles

“Clearly illustrates how the widely accepted narrative of Brits keeping calm and carrying on was not all that it was cracked up to be. Kean does a thorough job of collecting anecdotes, letters, news clippings that collectively shed light on the many experiences of pet owners, their children, vets, animal rescuers, politicians, and the animals themselves. Because this was not a phenomenon that was widely publicized and, after the war, was quickly forgotten, this book provides an important historical record. [The Great Dog and Cat Massacre] does a service to those animals who gave their lives before their time.”

― EcoLit Books

“This is a well-researched and well-crafted book, and by bringing animals into the wartime narrative in their right, Kean does help to reshape our historical understanding of what has often been called the “People’s War.”. . .Kean recovers how animals and humans meaningfully interacted and, in so doing, challenges the ways historians have interpreted the wartime experience. For this reason, this is a book that should be read not only by historians of animals but also those interested in domesticity, memory, war, and British history.” ― Journal of British Studies

“This is a profoundly important book. Like a piece of paper folded into origami, it reveals new dimensions to a tragic subject. It reshapes our historical understanding by giving us a remarkable model of cross-species inclusivity. I want to start reading it all over again to see just how Kean pulled this off.” ― Carol J. Adams, author The Sexual Politics of Meat

“The central historical event around which Kean's book revolves is shocking. . . . Contains a wealth of fascinating detail. . . . Raises sobering questions about how far attitudes of disposability towards the animals we call our companions still persist.” ― Times Literary Supplement

“This is a brilliant telling of an important but neglected story of Britain’s ‘People's War.’ Kean's reconstruction of the unnecessary slaughter of hundreds of thousands of pet animals at the outbreak of war will live long in the reader’s memory. But it is matched by her meticulous recovery of the changing aspect of animal-human relations throughout the remaining six years of conflict.” ― Jerry White, author of London in the Twentieth Century: A City and Its People

"The many personal, and often moving, reminiscences collected in this book reveal just how many enduring wartime memories, happy or sad, featured an animal. It is in times of greatest difficulty that one discovers who one’s friends are." ― Journal of Animal Ethics

“Beginning with the mass slaughter of household pets immediately after Britain’s declaration of war on Germany in 1939, Kean’s compelling account explores the varied ways in which domesticated animals experienced the Home Front. With the exception of what contemporaries criticized as ‘the holocaust of pets,’ most of these experiences were shared by human and non-human animals. By retrieving evidence of the lives of individual companion animals, as well as by documenting the increasing official acknowledgment of their value and standing, Kean offers a fresh perspective on what has often been called the ‘People’s War.’” ― Harriet Ritvo, author most recently of Noble Cows and Hybrid Zebras: Essays on Animals and History

“By unearthing this odd but significant moment of compassionate hysteria, Kean’s book undercuts this portrayal of the resolute Empire, suggesting the terror and irrationality beneath the stiff upper lip.” ― Los Angeles Review of Books

“The tremendous loss of human life during World War II has made this episode an unsuitable one to criticize. Kean’s book brings to light an uncomfortable chapter in British history.” ― Wall Street Journal

“For those who think everything has been said about Britain’s war, here is a book that will change our perspective on the popular image of the British people calmly coping with the challenges of the home front. Kean not only brings animals into the wartime narrative in their own right, but challenges the way historians have treated the wartime experience. This is a remarkably rich and detailed history, not only reconstructing the unknown story of the animal massacre, but in the process offering a profound view of the way animals and humans interact.” ― Richard Overy, author of The Bombing War: Europe 1939–1945

“Kean’s snapshots of life during wartime are engaging. . . . Her book suggests that history should acknowledge ‘everybody’ to include bodies with four legs as well as two.” ― New York Times Book Review

“Kean’s book, which has some excellent illustrations, insightful anecdotes, and shrewd analysis, lists the ways in which domestic animals both suffered in the war and also contributed to the war effort.” ― Literary Review

“The shocking story of why up to 750,000 animals were killed in the first week of the Second World War is the subject of a fascinating new book.” ― Daily Express

“In The Great Cat & Dog Massacre, Kean shows how one can take an imaginative approach to historiography for animals. . . . The interesting thing about this book, especially for interdisciplinary readers, is
that it goes beyond that approach, opening up processes and possibilities for a history in which animals’ subject status is foregrounded. This type of history has relevance beyond disciplinary concerns and narrative reconstructions. There is much of value to the practice and teaching of veterinary medicine in this book.” ― Society & Animals

“I was completely riveted, not least by what The Great Cat And Dog Massacre tells you about our unexpectedly ambivalent attitudes towards animals.” ― Daily Mail

“A multifaceted history. . . . Pursuing questions as varied as a pet’s value in the years leading up to the war, how the idea of war-preparedness (or ‘doing things’) goaded people into acting drastically (and often pointlessly), and how the event shaped thinking on animal rights, Kean achieves an unusual psychological portrait of a society in wartime.” ― New Yorker

About the Author

Hilda Kean is visiting professor at the University of Greenwich and an honorary senior research associate at University College London. Her many books include Animal Rights: Political and Social Change in Britain since 1800 and London Stories: Personal Lives, Public Histories.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B06X3YWWVT
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The University of Chicago Press; Reprint edition (March 14, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 14, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2746 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 244 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 16 ratings

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
16 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Thomas Wiczek
5.0 out of 5 stars Tragic good read
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2023
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Excellent condition
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Charlotte Achelois Scherer
5.0 out of 5 stars Illuminating. The plight of the animals is, of ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2017
Illuminating. The plight of the animals is, of course, heartbreaking--all the more so for the pointlessness of it all. Yet the owners are very ordinary people acting out of fear and a desire to "do something." Anticipating the war created a feeling of helplessness and dread, which often inspired irrational acts. A sense of purpose and proportion didn't return until the bombs began falling.
13 people found this helpful
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LLDWest
1.0 out of 5 stars I checked Amazon for my cat's favorite treats and could not believe the price - twice ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2017
$19.25 for the Kindle version!!??

I have not read this book, but checked Amazon because I am interested in the book. Amazon are you playing variable price games? This is the 2nd time this week this has happened. Previously, I checked Amazon for my cat's favorite treats and could not believe the price - twice what the price of the local Petsmart brick & mortar store. Yes, I jumped in the car and drove to the store.

New Amazon algorithm: the price of an item doubles when you acknowledge its existence!
4 people found this helpful
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Nigel Barnett
1.0 out of 5 stars Distasteful
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2017
A distasteful book about a historical episode that should have been allowed to be forgotten, badly written and shoddily researched. Avoid!
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Dr Friendly Man
3.0 out of 5 stars A People and Animals' War?
Reviewed in Canada on August 17, 2017
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Fascinating (and sometimes upsetting) information for animal lovers -- everyone should read it. The argument gets a little overdone (not a "People's War", but a "People and Animals' War"? I dunno): and the author is no great prose stylist (are there any paragraphs without at least one colon?).
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Laura Worsley
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2018
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This was a fascinating approach to a period of history it is sometimes easy to think you are familiar with. The details of the events during the first few weeks of the war were of course interesting, if shocking, on their own - but the coverage of what happened beyond that is thoroughly researched and written in a very engaging, accessible style.
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CK
3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Really Live Up To It's Premise
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 14, 2022
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The style of writing is "academicese" with pseudo-scientific language and not written for the ease of the general reader. The voice veers from the somewhat sensational to downright clunky with a strong underlying animal "rights" agenda.

This is typified by the bizarre criticism of the Animals in War memorial where the author avers that, contrary to the obvious evidence, animals had "agency" and choice in whether they participated in human warfare. She also complains that rats and bees have been excluded from the depictions but doesn't mention the use of marine mammals, for instance.

It is useful to be reminded that the nostalgic myths of WWII are just that and that the actual experiences of people were much more varied, and of course that includes their relationship with animals. In spite of a sea-change in attitudes towards companion animals in the decades since, 'twas ever thus.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars but can recommend itin any format
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 6, 2017
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This is history as it should be written; scholarly, readable and arguing a consistent thesis! actually I bought it as hard copy, but can recommend itin any format.
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Paul Foley
5.0 out of 5 stars READ THIS BOOK
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2017
Verified Purchase
Outstanding!
Painstaking historical research supports well argued analysis.
Perhaps the British are not quite the animal lovers they imagine themselves to be
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