When the British Killed 750,000 Dogs in a Week

Over on Slate, they have a nice piece on "The Government Advice That Scared 750,000 Britons Into Euthanizing Their Pets".

It seems that after 1939, the British were waiting for the Nazis to drop mustard gas and incendiary bombs prior to a massive invasion of the Island in which millions of people would be displaced and hundreds of thousands killed.

What to do about the animals? 

The advice was to "rehome" those that could be to the countryside, but if that was not possible, then the populace should be prepared to put down their pets.

And why wait? A stitch in time saves nine!

Newspapers reminded folks that animals will not be allowed in the air raid shelters, and there will be no ration cards for pet food.

This message was widely spread by the Home Office, and in just a week, in September of 1939, Britons were panicked into killing over 750,000 of their pets.  Employees of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals alone euthanized 300,000 animals. The RSPCA's Arthur Moss gloomily pronounced that his staff's primary mission was now the destruction of animals.
 

And how was all this destruction to be done?  By use of a captive bolt gun, and a shot to the brain.

If you are interested in reading the original publication that fomented all this hysteria and death, click here. Please note the nice advertisement for Sprat's dog food, at the back of the publication as well.  No reason not to advertise on the eve of destruction!

.

Thanks to Gina Spadafori for bird-dogging me to this bit of history!

.