Cowie, Helen Louise orcid.org/0000-0003-1485-8350 (2024) 'Down pythons’ throats we thrust live goats':snakes, zoos and animal welfare in nineteenth-century Britain. British Journal for the History of Science. ISSN 0007-0874
Abstract
In nineteenth-century Britain, captive snakes in menageries and zoological gardens were routinely fed with live prey – primarily rabbits, pigeons and guinea pigs. From the late 1860s, this practice began to generate opposition on animal welfare grounds, leading to a protracted debate over its necessity, visibility and morality. Focusing on the c.1870–1914 period, when the snake-feeding controversy reached its zenith, this article charts changing attitudes towards the treatment of reptiles in captivity and asks why an apparently niche practice generated so much interest. By looking at the biological arguments put forward for and against live feeding, the article traces the changing nature of humanitarian activism in the late nineteenth century and shows how the shifting character of the live-feeding debate paralleled wider trends in the animal welfare movement. It also highlights the different types of knowledge and expertise involved in the debate, as naturalists, veterinary surgeons, legal professionals, zookeepers and humanitarians offered conflicting perspectives on questions of reptilian dietary requirements and animal sentience.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), 2024 |
Keywords: | snakes, live feeding, zoological garden, menagerie, Britain, nineteenth century, animal welfare, science, RSPCA, Humanitarian League |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > History (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 23 May 2024 10:00 |
Last Modified: | 02 Dec 2024 01:17 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007087424000542 |
Status: | Published online |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S0007087424000542 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:212722 |
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Description: ‘Down pythons’ throats we thrust live goats’: snakes, zoos and animal welfare in nineteenth-century Britain
Licence: CC-BY 2.5