Edward K. Ford was an eyewitness to history. In 1907, London medical students protested over a statue raised to a little brown dog. Bonfires burned late into the night. Large groups marched through the streets clashing with police. Gangs were arrested trying to pull down the memorial in midnight raids. Medical “hooligans” from University College London and elsewhere stormed meetings of their opposition. Behind this episode was an international conflict between pro-science and anti-vivisection groups. Tensions were high and growing. For some, physiology was growing in triumphal leaps and bounds. For others, science’s use of animals was rising too fast. Laws were ignored, and moral imperatives required action. In 1903, a celebrated libel case made London a hotspot for this debate. Anti-vivisectionists lost in court but used their new brown dog statue to win the propaganda war. Action provoked reaction for the next five years.
Edward K. Ford’s pamphlet provides a rare on-the-ground account. It also includes key material on legal issues, as well as press and public reaction. His anti-vivisection perspective is plain. This remains essential reading for any study of the brown dog affair, anti-vivisection campaigns, and the history of science in society. Complete facsimile of 1908 pamphlet.
Author and Eyewitness
Little is known of Edward K. Ford other than what he provided in this pamphlet. Quite possibly he is a pseudonym for Emilie Augusta Louise Lind af Hageby (1878-1963), who co-founded the Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society.
Details
Ford, Edward K. (1908) The Brown Dog and His Memorial (London: Euston Grove Press), 56 pages. 2013 complete facsimile of 1908 pamphlet.
ISBN 9781906267346 (paperback) – out-of-print
dimensions: 6 x 9 (inches) or 152 x 229 (mm)
ISBN 9781906267339 (Kindle)
ISBN 978-1-906267-38-4 (Apple iBook)
This book also is available via Internet Archive.
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