Mad Dogs and Englishmen: Rabies in Britain 1830-2000: Rabies in Britain, 1830-2000 (Science, Technology and Medicine in Modern History)

Rabies was a constant threat in Victorian Britain and gripped popular imagination, not least because its human form, hydrophobia, produced a vile death with the mind and body out of control. This book explores the changing understanding of rabies amongst veterinarians, animal welfare campaigners, state officials, politicians and the public. Rabies was a constant threat in Victorian Britain. It gripped the public imagination because its human form - hydrophobia - produced the worst of all possible deaths with the mind and body out of control. This book takes us back to an age when potentially rabid dogs lurked everywhere: at home, in the yard and on the street, in the press, in novels, and in popular memory. The narrative explores the changing understandings of rabies amongst vets, doctors, animal welfare campaigners, state officials, politicians and the public, and the struggles over methods of control. Hydrophobia was always fatal until 1885 when Louis Pasteur introduced his vaccine treatment - the world's first medical breakthrough - which we show led to conflicts between scientists and anitvivisectionists. Finally, Mad Dogs and Englishmen considers how rabies was eradicated from Britain in 1902 following the controversial imposition of muzzling dogs, then kept out by first by quarantines and from 2000 by Pet Passports Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 List of Figures......Page 7 List of Graphs and Map......Page 8 List of Abbreviations......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 1 Rabies Raging: The ‘Era of Canine Madness’, 1830......Page 20 2 Rabies at Bay: ‘The Dog Days’, 1831–1863......Page 51 3 Rabies Resurgent: ‘The Dog Plague’, 1864–1879......Page 80 4 Rabies Cured: ‘The Millennium of Pasteurism’, 1880–1902......Page 113 5 Rabies Banished: Muzzling and Its Discontents, 1885–1902......Page 144 6 Rabies Excluded: Quarantines to Pet Passports, 1902–2000......Page 174 Conclusion......Page 206 Notes......Page 212 B......Page 250 D......Page 251 F......Page 252 I......Page 253 M......Page 254 P......Page 255 R......Page 256 T......Page 257 Z......Page 258 Published To Coincide With The First World Rabies Day On 7th September 2007, This Book Provides A History Of Rabies And Its Place In British Medicine And Culture Over Two Centuries. List Of Figures -- List Of Graphs And Map -- List Of Abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. Rabies Raging : The 'era Of Canine Madness, ' 1803 -- 2. Rabies At Bay : 'the Dog Days, ' 1831-1863 -- 3. Rabies Resurgent : 'the Dog Plague, ' 1864-1879 -- 4. Rabies Cured : 'the Millennium Of Pasteurism, 1880-1902 -- 5. Rabies Banished : Muzzling And Its Discontents, 1885-1902 -- 6. Rabies Excluded : Quarantines To Pet Passports, 1902-2000 -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Index. Neil Pemberton And Michael Worboys. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 201-237) And Index.