An Argument about a Brown Dog

Vivisection controversy in 1903 results in statue of dog

Location: Battersea Park, SW8

Description: The Brown Dog affair was a political controversy about vivisection that raged in Edwardian England from 1903 until 1910.

It involved the infiltration of University of London medical lectures by Swedish women activists, pitched battles between medical students and the police, and ultimately police protection for the statue of a dog. Indeed, the affair became a cause celebre that reportedly divided the country.

The significant canine result was the casting of a statue of a dog, destroyed in 1910. But fear not, this rat-like replica appeared in 1985 and is still in Battersea Park...Go Find!

Themes: Sculpture Sculpture Theme