Autoren-Bilder
7 Werke 58 Mitglieder 4 Rezensionen

Werke von Clare Campbell

Getagged

Wissenswertes

Für diesen Autor liegen noch keine Einträge mit "Wissenswertem" vor. Sie können helfen.

Mitglieder

Rezensionen

A fasinating read in chronological order. Clare's little comments act as a companion in an otherwise extensive history of society's policy on cats mostly but dogs also. I cannot understand why it has not been chosen to be read on BBC Radio 4.

The role of horse meat deserves closer attention especially during W. W. 2 when rationing forbid feeding cats
 
Gekennzeichnet
WorkinSuffolkIdio_s | Mar 24, 2021 |
Bonzo’s War is an interesting book on the effect of war on the animal population of Britain during the Second World War. It is an important book for pet owners and policy makers because of its account of the hysteria that led to the voluntary destruction of over half a million cats and dogs in the first weeks of the war. These animals were killed by their loving owners, not a despotic government, for no valid reason.
An uninformed and hysterical official of the Ministry of Home Security warned Britons to euthanize their pets before the Germans started dropping tons of poison gas and incendiaries on British cities. It would save their pets from a horrible death. And if their pets did survive the aerial onslaught, they’d just starve to death anyway. Amazingly, the BBC actively promoted this view. So did most animal ‘protection’ charities. Jumping on the patriotic bandwagon brought them increased funding for the ‘humane’ destruction of healthy animals.
The hysteria built, and the deaths continued, despite opposition from most of the British government. The Ministry of Agriculture knew that farmers would need dogs to herd sheep and protect poultry from predators, as well as cats to protect crops, granaries and warehouses from rodents. The Ministry of Health feared the spread of rodent-borne disease in bomb-damaged cities devoid of cats. The Ministry of Defence knew that civilian dogs would be needed to breed guard dogs and other military dogs. The hysteria lessened during the Phony War, but arose again during the invasion scare after Dunkirk and again during the Blitz.
With most people today getting their news from cable TV or social media, the danger of this sort of hysteria is greater than in 1939. The BBC couldn’t approach the subject objectively or take the time to check with competent government agencies. Do we think today’s talking heads or bloggers would do better?
In 2006, one cat in Germany died of avian flu. Across Europe, thousands of cats were abandoned or turned into animal shelters. Only three other cats were found to have the disease, and there were no cases of transmission to humans. Pet owners and policy makers need to be prepared to deal with this sort of hysteria in the event of pandemic or war.

2023 update; Apparently the British government was considering similar measures during COVID.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/government-considered-killing-cats-...
… (mehr)
1 abstimmen
Gekennzeichnet
WaltNoise | 1 weitere Rezension | Sep 28, 2014 |
Fascinating insight to a little reported aspect of WWII.
 
Gekennzeichnet
edwardsgt | 1 weitere Rezension | May 18, 2014 |
An engaging look at (first and foremost) the Lucie Blackman and Carita Ridgway murder cases, using them as a lens to examine Japan's "water trade" and the general indifference the Japanese authorities tended to show to crimes committed against foreign women (particularly those working illegally). While I was interested in the subject matter, at times, I thought this account was terribly scattered, jumping back and forth between Lucie Blackman, the related Carita Ridgway case, but also the Japanese cannibal case and Lindsey Hawker stalking/murder without coming to any specific point or linking them in any way other than a focus on the stereotypical obsession with gaijin women and a lot of mentions of manga-porn. That said, I enjoyed the point of view more than I did People Who Eat Darkness where the author seemed to be over-the-top pro-Tim Blackman and selectively omitted some of his behavior that the world found rather distasteful - painting him as a victim and his ex-wife as a harridan in a very one-sided approach. By contrast, Tokyo Hostess is less focused, but also less clearly biased in anyone's favor.

Ultimately, I think People Who Eat Darkness gives a better overview of the case itself and Lucie & her family's background, but in the focus misses certain salient background covered here on the "water trade", which I found very interesting. I found Tokyo Hostess an interesting read, but too long and too scattered to recommend for anyone looking to read further on the Lucie Blackman case.
… (mehr)
 
Gekennzeichnet
Caramellunacy | Jan 26, 2013 |

Listen

Auszeichnungen

Statistikseite

Werke
7
Mitglieder
58
Beliebtheit
#284,346
Bewertung
½ 3.6
Rezensionen
4
ISBNs
16

Diagramme & Grafiken