Britain is a nation of pet lovers – and it has the Victorians to thank

Britain was the first nation to establish an animal welfare organization as early as 1824. Nowadays, nearly 20 million pets and cats share their unique place in our homes, and more than one-third of households have an animal-loving, scaly, or feathered companion.

As a historian of the family and the home in 19th and 20th-century Britain, I’ve been trying to figure out why. Alongside Julie-Marie Strange, and our research team of Luke Kelly, Lesley Hoskins, and Rebecca Preston, we’ve been searching through archive materials from the Victorian period and other archives to discover why and when pets were so crucial in the family.

Humans have been in contact with and interacted with other animals for thousands of years. However, keeping pets wasn’t accepted in Britain in the 1800s. Before that, pets were generally regarded as a luxurious luxury, and small dogs often appeared in prints depicting satirical images of aristocratic ladies, symbolizing abundance and frivolity.

In the late 18th and early 19th Century, there was a decrease in such pictures. Instead, illustrations and paintings which are a good indication of what was considered culturally “in” – began to depict pets as a cherished aspect of the domestic.

This was partly due to Victorians’ increased importance on their family and home life. In response to the emergence of industrial and noisy urban areas, Victorians envisioned their home as a sacred space. Pets were an integral part of this celebration of home life, appearing in many illustrations and paintings, and are frequently depicted as an essential part of the entire family. This was the meaning behind Frederick George Cotman’s work A Portrait of the Family, representing a family sitting around the table for dinner, accompanied by pets like a dog and a horse.

Alongside this, the growing Evangelical religious movement put greater importance on fathers and mothers in raising morally-minded children. In the current climate, keeping pets took on an entirely new meaning. Since the 1840s, advice books and literature for children encouraged youngsters to own small animals like rabbits, guinea pigs, and birds. The intention was to teach dedication, values of care, and practical abilities. The boys, in particular, were expected to develop kindness through these experiences.

Victorians had pets for many reasons. Pets with pedigrees represented prestige and class, while cats ate rodents, and rabbits could be eaten during times of toughness. However, evidence from interviews, photos, diaries, as well as the many newly constructed pet graveyards suggests that, most importantly, emotional bonding was a vital element of the bond between many Victorians and their pets.

For instance, dogs were believed to possess moral traits that echoed the ideals that characterized Victorian human society. They were thought to be solid, loyal, and courageous. In the painting of Briton Riviere, to the right, the right, a girl, maybe confined to the step of a naughty girl with the faithful dog.

It’s not all pretty.

When the Victorians loved animals, there was no awareness of the harm that could be inflicted on animals by taking them out of their natural environment. Mice, squirrels, rabbits, hedgehogs, and other species of British animals were frequently featured in manuals of advice as animals that could be captured and managed.

Hedgehogs are a good example. They were often caught and then sold at London’s Leadenhall Market. Their desire to eat black beetles was a plus in London kitchens, as they were believed to increase cleanliness. But since the method of caring for them and feeding them was not learned, they did not tend to live long.

Birds played a significant role in the working-class culture. While specific households kept their birds in deplorable conditions, the majority loved them with love, appreciating the music, movement, and color they brought to their lives at home. Removing birds from their natural habitats was more controversial than other animals. In 1870, laws were passed to restrict their capture to a specific time of the year. Yet, markets trading in wild birds continued operating until the beginning of the 20th Century.

New Century and a brand new relationship

Taking animals straight from the wild gradually became less commonplace during the early 20th Century. The changes in living conditions during the early 20th century also changed how people kept animals in their homes. The development of suburban homes with more extensive gardens during the interwar period resulted in a larger, more comfortable space for pets. Many urban dwellers were invited to have animals comfortable confined to the house for a while, like pedigree cats.

The disposable incomes increased, and more money was available to invest in their pets. Following the Second World War, vet services improved, and so did the companies that provided bespoke food, pampering, and toys.

More emphasis was placed on forming a bond with pets rather than just caring for them. In the 1920s, critics frequently wrote about the bonds between pets and humans and dog training, an essential aspect of pet ownership.

In the 1950s, well-known animal experts such as Barbara Woodhouse highlighted that owners, too, needed to be taught. Woodhouse claimed she believed that “delinquent canines” – dogs who snatched Sunday evening joints, took over the most coveted chairs of their owners, or would not leave their bed – were the result of the incompetence of their owners who had not established meaningful relationships with their dogs.

In the late 1950s and into the 1960s, scholars began looking into the importance of pets in the family. Social scientists Harold Bridger and Stephanie White suggested in 1964 that the demise of the typical “close-knit” family made pets more essential to keep families together. They predicted that animals would continue increasing in popularity for a long time to the end of time. The growing popularity of pets in the 21st Century confirms that prophecy.