World animal day versus kitty bashing

Nowadays, more than half of the Dutch households own a pet. We are all spoiling and pampering millions of cats, dogs, goldfish, parakeets, guinea-pigs, rabbits and canaries. It hasn’t always been like this though…

Cruel animal games
Animal rights are firmly established in Holland: it is your duty to treat your pets well, to take care of them and feed them. Animal abuse is no longer acceptable and is even a criminal offence. It was very different before: in the Middle Ages for example, people thought that animals didn’t have souls and couldn’t feel pain. They were treated as lifeless objects. Cruel animal games were very popular. At fairs and festivals the crowds would amuse themselves with games such as goose stabbing, eel pulling, cock throwing or parrot shooting.

Kitty bashing was also a popular form of entertainment: players had to take turns in throwing bats at a barrel with a cat locked up inside, until the cat was able to get out of the barrel. Extra points would of course go to the player that subsequently was able to knock the cat unconscious…

Another ‘lovely’ game was goose pulling. A live goose would be suspended from two trees by its legs, with a rope. One by one, players would ride their horses underneath the goose and try and pull the head off the goose’s body. The head of the goose would be lathered with soap so it would be nice and slippery, to make the game a bit more difficult. Goose pulling wasn’t prohibited until 1850.

A funeral worthy of a prince
Fortunately there were exceptions to the rule: the story of Willem de Bont and his dog Tyter is one of them. In 1634, Willem de Bont was the bailiff of Leiden and one of the most powerful people of the city. Because he and his wife Maria were unable to have children, they gave all their love and attention to their little dog.

When, one bad day, dog Tyter died of a throat condition, the whole De Bont household went into mourning. The sad couple thought that the whole city should have the opportunity to bid farewell to their beloved doggy and they organized a funeral procession. The huge ceremony would have been worthy of a prince. Tyter was carried around the city on a decorated bier and was followed by mayors, lay judges and other dignitaries. Their dogs were also part of the procession of course. The wailing and crying crowds buried Tyter under a pear tree in the backyard of the De Bonts and then proceeded to have a big farewell meal. Everybody present enjoyed eating pie, meat and other exquisite food. The dogs present were also pampered and had milk, white bread and cake!

World animal day
In the nineteenth century the cruel treatment of animals would start to be disapproved of more and more. The higher social classes started a civilization campaign: lower classes would have to learn that it was uncivilized and disgraceful to treat vulnerable and weak animals badly. Lots of societies were founded. The first one was the Society for the Protection of Animals of The Hague. William III was the society’s patron and honorary chairman. When, in 1877, all of the societies united, the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals was official.

Since 1930 we celebrate World animal day every year, on the fourth of October. We remind ourselves of the rights that animals have worldwide and we pay some extra love and attention to the animals around us. An excellent time to come and have a look at our cute cat-and-dog chess set.

By Marjette van Koperen