Redditor Shares Horrible Historical Moment When A Dog Was Dissected Alive

We learn every day, and unfortunately, knowledge can be both exciting and sorrowful.

Jesse

• Published in Interesting
• November 17, 2022

Dogs and humans have shared an incredible bond for a very long time. How can they not when dogs are the best pets to have around?

However, this bond isn’t shared by all humans, which is why throughout time, dogs, like other animals, have suffered some form of cruelty.

In the early periods, between 5000 BC and 500 AD, animals, including dogs, were extensively used for their muscle power to pull plows or sleds with blocks of limestone for construction. 

Fast forward to the Middle Ages, people thought the dogs roaming the villages were spreading the plague, so they were hunted or burned

Thankfully, there have also been people who have given their all to fight for these canines and advocated that people treat them better. We found some of these people under the Today I Learned subreddit. 

A Redditor shared that they had recently learned about a controversial and fiery event of the early 90s. This particular event involved Swedish feminists who protested against the dissection of a living brown terrier dog in the UK.

Via the link OP provided, viewers can read that the feminists had infiltrated the University of London medical lectures and fought the medical students and the police. This incident aroused widespread controversy and divided the nation.

Although the person who performed the vivisection, William Bayliss, claimed that it had been adequately anesthetized, the feminists argued the dog was conscious and struggling.

Bayliss, whose study on dogs contributed to the discovery of hormones, filed a libel lawsuit and won. But that was just the beginning of hostilities.

This is one story that you'd love to read. Scroll down for more details:

Brown Dog affair

From 1903 until 1910, Britain was immersed in the political issue known as the Brown Dog incident, which centered on the ethics of vivisection.

It included Swedish feminists infiltrating medical lectures at the University of London, heated clashes between medical students and the police, police protection for a statue of a dog, a libel trial held at the Royal Courts of Justice, and the establishment of a Royal Commission to thoroughly investigate the use of animals in scientific experiments. 

This was one scandal that greatly polarized the nation.

Louise Lind of Hageby

One of the foremost animal activists involved in this movement was Louise Lind of Hageby. She enrolled at the London School of Medicine for Women in 1902 to advance their anti-vivisectionist education.

Dr William Bayliss

Allegations surfaced in March 1903 that William Bayliss, a physiologist at University College London, illegally vivisected a brown terrier dog in front of an audience of sixty medical students. Bayliss and his colleagues insisted that the dog was effectively sedated, but the Swedish activists insisted the animal was conscious and in pain.

The National Anti-Vivisection Society strongly opposed the practice, calling it cruel and illegal. Bayliss, whose studies on dogs led to the discovery of hormones, was outraged by the attack on his reputation and sued for libel, which he eventually won.

A protest in Trafalgar square against the removal of the statue

A bronze monument of the dog was commissioned by anti-vivisectionists and unveiled on the Latchmere Recreation Ground in Battersea in 1906. However, medical students were offended by its provocative plaque, which read: "Men and women of England, how long shall these Things be?"

This led to frequent vandalism of the memorial and the necessity for 24-hour police protection against the "anti-doggers."  The Brown Dog riots began on 10 December 1907, when hundreds of medical students marched through downtown London carrying effigies of the brown dog on sticks, clashing with suffragettes, trade unionists, and 300 police officers.

Battersea Council finally had enough of the back and forth, and in March 1910, they dispatched four employees escorted by 120 police officers to stealthily remove the monument at night. This was despite a 20,000-strong petition in favor of the statute. The council's blacksmith reportedly melted it down thereafter.

In 1985, Battersea Park welcomed a brand-new statue by Nicola Hicks.

A new statue of the brown dog, commissioned by anti-vivisection groups, was erected in Battersea Park in 1985.

On 6 September 2021, the 115th anniversary of when the original statue was unveiled, a new campaign was launched by author Paula S. Owen to recast the original statue.

A few Redditors had comments about the story.

This Redditor seems to be focused on the title

Someone has some words for people who harm innocent dogs

"Doing it on something alive is called a vivisection."

It’s always nice to learn something new, especially things about history. However, not all knowledge is pleasant. 

This story will undoubtedly rub dog lovers the wrong way. One person in the comments section found it vile that a dog was dissected alive.

What do you think about the brown dog affair? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Jesse