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The doghouse

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Original poster

What happened to dogs in WWII?

21 replies

Trilllllian · 27/02/2018 17:15

It occurred to me as DP gave DDog some tasty bits of chicken after Sunday lunch - what did people do with their dogs in the war?

I mean, if I already had a dog and there was rationing suddenly (and no dog food I presume I t he war?) I would make it my business to save scraps and meat that couldn’t be eaten and feed the dog, but realistically there wouldn’t be that much that really couldn’t be eaten in a rationing situation-

So what did dogs eat?

And also while we’re at it there’s no way I’d get a new dog in the middle of rationing- did people stop breeding dogs? Presumably it wasn’t common to neuter them so were they feral? And what about working dogs - did they get rations? (Sheepdogs, gundogs, police dogs - and packs of hounds shudder at the thought of fox hunting but there would be a lot of dog mouths to feed regardless)

I’m overthinking but imagining a lot of dogs PTS

OP posts:
Aspieparent · 27/02/2018 17:18

Interesting link here to what happened to animals in ww2
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24478532

Wornoutbear · 27/02/2018 17:19

I'm a WW2 reenactor, and as I do Home Front I get asked this a lot. Many animals were pts as people were sure invasion was coming. I'll see if I can find my leaflets about feeding dogs and cats, and air raid precautions for them. A working dog, in a rural area, would be an asset as you could use it to help you get rabbits, squirrels for pies.

LaBelleSausage · 27/02/2018 17:19

Have you never heard the tragic story of the pet cull?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24478532

Chasingsquirrels · 27/02/2018 17:19

That's interesting, it would have been far quicker to Google than to type your OP - but I'm now reading about it ...

dimots · 27/02/2018 17:21

Working horses got a food ration in WW2, so probably dogs did too.
There were some meats off ration I think, things like pigs trotters.
But yes I think a lot of dogs were probably just shot. And people used to drown puppies and kittens fairly regularly before neutering became feasible

FairfaxAikman · 27/02/2018 17:23

Our family kept ours as they were trained Gundogs and therefore an asset. Feeding wasn't an issue as the family business was butcher and game dealer, so plenty of offcuts.

Aspieparent · 27/02/2018 17:23

Apparently not even working dogs got a ration and they were often fed on horse meat.

dimots · 27/02/2018 17:24

I actually have a ration book from my great grandfathers working horse. He used it to pull a wagon for deliveries - very useful when petrol was scarce.

Original poster
Trilllllian · 27/02/2018 17:27

Oooh I fear I won’t like the answer! Yes I could have googled (and usually do) but I thought there might be actual real memories on here. I don’t think my DM had a dog in the war but she does remember it.

OP posts:
LineysHorseWithNoName · 27/02/2018 17:30

Oh that's so sad. I had no idea. 750,000 pets killed in a week.

Worldsworstcook · 27/02/2018 17:32

Oh no. I can see why but .... oh no!!!

Original poster
Trilllllian · 27/02/2018 17:33

I’ve read that link now. How awful. I mean it pales to insignificance with the rest of the horrors of war but it does put into context how scared people must have been. My
Dog is only
One year old and I’d have to be pretty in fear of mine and my family’s life to contemplate his demise. I suppose it must have felt ‘selfish’ to parade a pet dog around in the midst of such austerity - unless it was a working dog.

Must have really dropped morale too, I have found my dog cheers me up so much

OP posts:
athingthateveryoneneeds · 27/02/2018 17:37

Very sad. I would have been worried about feeding my pets, too. Difficult choice to make.

lljkk · 27/02/2018 17:41

Neutering was uncommon. It was rather ordinary to drown unwanted puppies & kittens.

Worldsworstcook · 27/02/2018 17:57

@iijkk

I remember my boyfriends dads when I was about 17 had a lovely cat who had kittens. The kittens were gorgeous and I saw them every day, had names etc. I went to see them one day when they were about 3 or 4 weeks and he had taken them that day and drowned them in the sea in a bag. I broke things off with him. I couldn't bear to be near his dad. I'd have found them all homes if only he'd said.

lljkk · 27/02/2018 18:19

:-(

yantan · 27/02/2018 22:56

Funny to see this here. I had just being discussing this with my parents. The conversation started as the toilets doors in the local theatre are the old air raid shelter doors with all the rules painted on them and it says no dogs. My dad who is 80 and has never had a dog of his own said that he would decline the shelter and stay with my dog (she has done a spectacular job of turning my slightly dog hostile family into a family of complete dog lovers). My Dad now feels really guilty as his parents had their Sealyham terrier put down when he was born as it supposedly growled at him but his would have been a couple of years before the war started. My Mum who was born just after the war had lots of pets growing up but can't remember what they ate except Bobby the terrier would get an arrowroot biscuit on a Friday night as a treat and then they would put music on the gramophone and dance with him!

AdoraBell · 27/02/2018 23:04

I have no idea about dogs but when my mothers family were evacuated, she was a teenager, she had to go back to get the cats. They’d turned funny, viscous, following an air raid.

Someone I knew in Chile told us about his dog being a bag of bones during the Pinochet years. They couldn’t get enough food for the humans in the family and the dog was scavenging Sad

RussellTheLoveMuscle · 27/02/2018 23:08

I was reading about this yesterday. I found a newspaper advert asking for people to lend their "Alsations, Collies and other large dogs" to be trained as working war dogs.

Also found this Sad (crap at links sorry)

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bravest-sniffer-dog-world-war-8620003.amp&ved=2ahUKEwjLqu_JmsfZAhUL26QKHYvJBYQQFjAUegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw0Qt29Kn9yh0IgdGP-RWuwr&ampcf=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bravest-sniffer-dog-world-war-8620003.amp&ved=2ahUKEwjLqu_JmsfZAhUL26QKHYvJBYQQFjAUegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw0Qt29Kn9yh0IgdGP-RWuwr&ampcf=1

mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork · 28/02/2018 12:14

My sort of aunt (not a real one) was a German, living in UK during the war (and before) and so was subject to stricter rationing than the rest of the UK inhabitants and had a curfew so she couldn't leave her house after dark (I think). She also had a small pet dog (Moira). Moira learned to be a vegetarian because of meat being virtually unobtainable for my auntie. The only thing she refused to eat was carrots (she would remove them from her dish delicately and put them to one side). Apparently Moira was pretty stalwart during air raids too - my auntie ran a kindergarten and Moira and the children would congregate under the table together, the children finding Moira very comforting. Because of the curfew, when a road accident happened outside my auntie's house and she rushed to see if she could assist, she was ordered roughly back into the house by , I think, a policeman at the scene.

Enb76 · 28/02/2018 12:23

My mother's family knew "Buster" Lloyd-Jones, who took in abandoned animals, often "German" dogs like Dachshunds which were abandoned in the fervour of anti-German sentiment.

www.amazon.co.uk/Animals-Came-One/dp/B0026Y8CXU?tag=mumsnetforum-21

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