750,000 pets were “reborn” in just 1 week

History has witnessed another genocide that occurred in England but few people remember it, the massacre of livestock. It was 1939, due to fear of food shortages during wartime, the British government organized the slaughter of 750,000 livestock across the country in just one week. This tragedy is known today as the British Pet Massacre.

Background

In 1939, the British Government established the National Air Raid Precautions Animals Committee (NARPAC) to inform the public about the protection of animals during air raids – including including domestic and farm animals and working animals.

This committee is concerned that: in the case of food shortages, pet owners will have to share rations for their pets or let them starve.

In response to that problem, NARPAC published a pamphlet titled “Tips for Animal Owners”. The content of the book suggests moving livestock from big cities to the countryside. The book’s conclusion states:If you can’t get your neighbors to take care of your pets, it’s best to get rid of them“.

Developments

Almost immediately, hundreds of beloved pets, such as dogs, cats and other species, were killed by their own owners. Outside veterinary clinics across England were orderly lines of people. They brought dogs and cats in cages to wait for destruction, and the bewildered pets did not know anything, and could not understand why their sad fate was coming to an end.

The pet’s carcasses were then piled up – anonymously – outside veterinary facilities. It’s sad that just last week these same places were used to take care of their health and well-being.

The incident was so sudden and widespread that the National Canine Defense League (NCDL) ran out of supplies of the anesthetic chloroform.

The crematoriums at the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) had to be shut down because of the large volume of carcasses. The charity later used a meadow on its grounds in Ilford to serve as a cemetery for pets. According to records, people buried about 500,000 animals here.

Criticism

In 1939, World War II broke out. Many pet owners have flocked to veterinary clinics to “humanely kill” their pets. Veterinarian groups such as PDSA and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals vehemently oppose these extreme measures, yet their facilities are still packed with pet owners for several days. head.

When London was bombed in September 1940, more pet owners rushed to find ways to “rebirth” their pets. Pip Dodd, senior curator at the National Army Museum, explains: “People are worried about the threat of bombs and food shortages and feel unfit to have pets in wartime.”

Protest against the killing of pets

Many people condemned the act of killing pets and some even protested against it, including Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. They went against the trend of killing animals and adopted and cared for 145,000 dogs during the war.

Another famous person who stood up against the killing of pets is Nina Douglas-Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton. She is a cat lover and has campaigned against the killing of pets. She founded her own animal sanctuary in a heated hangar in Ferne.

Estimates suggest that more than 750,000 pets were killed during the massacre. After overcoming their fears of bombings and food shortages, many pet owners regret killing their pets and blame the government for initiating the rampages. mass close.

Learn from experience

This mass slaughter of livestock is a tragic and shameful period in British history. However, the strange thing is that today almost no one remembers this event anymore – not even those in the animal lover world.

This is considered a closed chapter in British history and a very sad period in the “People’s War”. It seems that a collective shame has pushed this tragedy out of people’s minds, as if the British people hoped that this tragedy would never be mentioned again.