Where they used to Drown the Dogs

Believe it or not, in New York City they used to take care of stray dogs by drowning them. God help you if your dog got loose and wasn't identified by a collar and tags. To understand the scale of the operation, in a single day 738 adult dogs and 20 puppies were purposefully drowned in 1877. I find it hard to believe a person could carry out such an act, but carry it out they did. The dogs were put in cages that were purposefully put under water for 10 minutes. The dead dogs were then sold for their furs. Thank God Americans now find the idea of dog fur horrific.

I guess there is a bright side to everything. About ten years ago I saw a horrific report on the dog fur trade in China. At least the dogs in New York were drowned before their furs were taken. In China, dogs are skinned alive to obtain their fur. On a news report I watched they showed a gorgeous German Shepherd being skinned alive by some wacko Chinese woman who was a fur trader. I hope she burns in hell.

Well if the good people of New York can go from a city that once drowned dogs to one that will be entirely no kill by 2015 (their current goal), maybe the Chinese will give up their torture of dogs and the dog fur trade. Interestingly the humane societies, which were originally formed to stop horse abuse, took action in the late 1800s to stop the practice of drowning dogs in New York. Here we are more than a hundred years later and great progress has been made, last year the percentage of dogs euthanized in NYC dropped from 75% to 43%. This is a goal every city should strive for.