Although the British have long considered themselves a nation of dog lovers, the dog as we know it came into existence only after a profound, and relatively recent, transformation in social attitudes and practices. In the Victorian age, the dog’s changing place in society was the subject of intense debate. It was accepted on the condition that it was recognized as owned property, a domesticated \"pet.\" At the same time as it was taking up its privileges in the private sphere, however, the dog was increasingly policed out of public space, the \"stray\" becoming the unloved counterpart of the household \"pet.\" With a supporting cast that includes Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Thomas Carlyle, and Charles Darwin, and subjects ranging from vivisection and the policing of rabies to pet cemeteries, dog shelters, and the practice of walking the dog, this book’s redefinition of the dog’s place illuminates our understanding of the modernity of the Victorian age, and of the Victorian city in particular. | At Home And Astray by Philip Howell, Hardcover | Indigo Chapters