Recently I had the opportunity to visit two very moving memorials to animals in London. Both memorials have deep significance and histories about forced sacrifice on the part of animals.
In 1903, a small brown terrier was picked up and brought to the Department of Physiology at University College, London. The intent of taking the dog was for live animal experimentation or vivisection. The researchers were William Bayliss and Ernest Starling. The little terrier was subjected to countless invasive procedures for over two months. Witnesses said the dog was inadequately anesthetized, conscious, and suffered extreme cruelty during a series of illegal experiments. Although Bayliss sued for libel and won, the public sentiment sympathized with the anti-vivisectionists.
In 1906, anti-vivisectionists, feminists and the World League Against Vivisection commissioned a bronze memorial of the little terrier that was erected at Battersea’s Latchmere Recreation Ground. The monument and the inscription on the monument enraged the UCL medical students who rioted, clashing with animal welfare advocates, anti-vivisectionists, suffragettes, trade unionists and the police from 1906-1910. This became known as the The Brown Dog Affair. The statue was not only vandalized in this period, but ultimately, in 1910, the Battersea Borough Council removed the statue in secret under police guard, and had it melted down.
The inscription on the 1906 Brown Dog statue stated:
“In Memory of the Brown Terrier Dog done to Death in the Laboratories of University College in February 1903, after having endured Vivisection extending over more than two months and having been handed from one Vivisector to another till Death came to his Release. Also in Memory of the 232 dogs vivisected at the same place during the year 1902. Men and Women of England, how long shall these things be?” The inscription on the 1906 Brown Dog statue.
In 1984, a replacement to the original Brown Dog statue was commissioned by the National Anti-Vivisection Society and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, along with public support and is now at Battersea Park. The original inscription 1906 is included. The sculptress is Nicola Hicks, who modeled the statue after her own dog, Brock.
The statue is not only a commemoration of the original 1906 memorial but a shocking reminder that animal testing on dogs and multiple other animals continues today.
Here is the inscription of Plaque 2 of 4 on the stone base of the 1985 Brown Dog Memorial:
Plaque 2:}
“Animal experimentation is one of the greatest moral issues of our time and should have no place in a civilised society. In 1903, 19,084 animals suffered and died in British laboratories. During 1984 3,497,335 experiments were performed on live animals in Great Britain. Today, animals are burned, blinded, irradiated, poisoned and subjected to countless other horrifyingly cruel experiments in Great Britain.”
The Animals in War Memorial createdby sculptor David Backhouse,is located, in its grand magnificence, in Hyde Park, near Speaker’s Corner, London. It was unveiled in November 2004 by HRH Anne, Princess Royal. The Foundry was Pangolin Editions, Ltd.
In World War I alone, 8 million horses, mules, and donkeys lost their lives and innumerable dogs served in conflicts in the 20th century. According to the Animals In War Memorial website, “The British, Commonwealth and Allied forces enlisted many millions of animals to serve and often die alongside their armies. These animals were chosen for a variety of their natural instincts and vast numbers were killed, often suffering agonising deaths from wounds, starvation, thirst, exhaustion, disease and exposure.
Among their many duties, these faithful animals ran messages, laid telegraph wires, detected mines, dug out bomb victims and acted as guard or patrol dogs. Many battled on despite horrific wounds and in terrifying circumstances to the limit of their endurance, showing indomitable courage and supreme loyalty to their handlers.”
More than 100,000 carrier pigeons in World War I, and twice that number in World War II, bravely carried messages, when there were no other means to communicate. In addition, the website states, “Elephants, camels, oxen, bullocks, cats, canaries, even glow worms — all these creatures, great and small, contributed their strength, their energy and their lives in times of war and conflict to the British, Commonwealth and Allied forces during the 20th century.”
To express this incredible story, sculptor David Backhouse created an amphitheatre that shows two heavily laden bronze mules who are approaching the steps to the wall from the lower level towards the exit, but they are enveloped by the wall that represents the war experience.
The wall itself has multiple animals such as elephants, dogs and camels represented who were used in war and are depicted in bas-relief on the inside of the longer section of the wall. On the outside of the wall are carved silhouettes representing animals lost in the conflicts. Finally, a bronze horse and dog are seen exiting to freedom representing hope for the future.
Although seeing these memorials to animals was heartbreaking, it also brought joy to see how artists can transform grief into elevating their memory.
In the words of David Backhouse, “My sculptures are meditations on the human and animal condition in the modern world, reflecting loss and tragedy, hope, and delight and above all, tenacity of spirit.”