Brown Dog affair

Lizzy Lind af Hageby 1913 (cropped2)

Stephen Coleridge, Vanity Fair, July 1910

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Brown Dog affair courtroom sketches

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Portrait of Richard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone

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Brown Dog statue, Battersea, London

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Brown Dog meeting, December 1906

The Brown Dog affair was a political controversy about vivisection that raged in England from 1903 to 1910. It involved the infiltration of University College London (UCL) by Swedish feminists, the removal and alleged vivisection of a brown terrier dog, and the subsequent public uproar led by anti-vivisectionists. The affair included a libel trial and the erection of a statue in Battersea Park commemorating the dog, which became a rallying point for the anti-vivisection movement and led to riots in 1907.

Background

Vivisection, the dissection of live animals for scientific research, was a contentious issue in England at the turn of the 20th century. The practice was defended by scientists for its contributions to medical knowledge but opposed by animal rights activists, who viewed it as cruel and unnecessary. The Brown Dog affair brought these tensions to the forefront of public consciousness.

The Incident

In February 1903, two Swedish feminists, Lizzy Lind af Hageby and Leisa Schartau, enrolled in a course at UCL to learn about British methods of animal experimentation. They witnessed several experiments on animals, including one on a brown terrier dog. According to their account, the dog was inadequately anesthetized and subjected to a painful and prolonged series of operations. Their observations were published in a book titled The Shambles of Science: Extracts from the Diary of Two Students of Physiology, which sparked widespread outrage.

Public Reaction

The publication of The Shambles of Science led to a surge in public sympathy for the anti-vivisection cause. The National Anti-Vivisection Society and the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, led by Frances Power Cobbe, spearheaded the campaign against UCL and the practice of vivisection. In 1906, a bronze statue of the brown dog was erected in Battersea Park, inscribed with a plaque condemning vivisection and commemorating the dog as a symbol of the struggle against animal cruelty.

The Riots

The statue became a flashpoint for conflict. Medical students, viewing the statue as an attack on their profession, organized several attempts to deface or destroy it. This led to clashes between medical students and police, anti-vivisectionists, and local residents, culminating in the so-called "Brown Dog riots" of 1907.

Libel Trial

The controversy also led to a libel trial in 1903, where the validity of Lind af Hageby and Schartau's claims was contested. The trial, known as the "Brown Dog libel trial," ended in a partial victory for the defendants, but it did little to quell the public debate.

Aftermath

The Brown Dog affair had lasting impacts on the regulation of animal experimentation in the UK. It contributed to the strengthening of the Cruelty to Animals Act and fostered a more organized animal rights movement. The original statue was removed in 1910 amid ongoing controversy, but a new statue was erected in Battersea Park in 1985, where it stands as a reminder of the affair and its significance in the history of animal rights.