BRUXELLES - LAITIÈRES FLAMANDES

The second card on the Flemish Milkmaid topic - 'het Vlaamse melkmeisje' shows the same young girls with another very young child. They do look alike and probably are sisters. But as BLUNDERBUSS noted in his comment on my first milkmaid card: the dogs don't look too happy!

The use of dogs as working animals had a long history in most of Europe until 1839.

But in 1839 the beginnings of change surfaced in London, England.

The Metropolitan Police Act of 1839 ordered that dogs were not to be used within fifteen miles of Charing Cross.

The legislation stated:
"XXXIV. [Prohibition of Dog Carts.] And be it further enacted, That after the First Day of January next every Person who within the City of London and the Liberties thereof shall use any Dog for the Purpose of drawing or helping to draw any Cart, Carriage, Truck, or Barrow, shall be liable to a Penalty not more than Forty Shillings for the First Offence, and not more than Five Pounds for the Second or any following Offence."

Up until that time dog-carts were quite common for those who could not afford to buy and keep of a horse. Dogs were being used to cart very heavy loads.

But it was also a measure to stop or rather limit the spread of rabies in London.

According to the medical journal 'The Lancet' in 1841, there had been a decline in the number of cases of rabies in London since the act was passed: "Whether the police or the Dog-Cart Act have had anything to do with the decline of hydrophobia, we cannot say".

And so in 1841 the English Parliament banned the use of dog-carts throughout the kingdom.

The beginnings of Animal Cruelty Action happened a little earlier in 1822 with a succession of Acts of Parliament intended to limit cruelty to animals. It began with the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1822 which banned cruel treatment of horses and cattle. Later in the Cruelty to Animals Act of 1835 all animal-baiting and animal-fighting bloodsports were finally banned.

Many dogs were abandoned to starve and at least 150,000 were destroyed in the first year of the new legislation.

But on the Continent the use of dog-carts was retained well into the twentieth century. It must have seemed 'quaint', 'different' or perhaps even 'offensive' to those who were animal lovers.

W. E. Mason described the purpose-bred Draught Dog in "Dogs of All Nations" (1915): "This is more or less of a nondescript variety, but he is worthy of a place in the sun [worthy of a mention] by reason of the inestimable service he renders to his master or mistress. Daily he may be seen in Belgium and Holland drawing the carts purveying milk, butter, vegetables and other similar household necessities. He varies in height from about 24 in. to 32 in. and weighs around 100 Ibs. Fawns and brindles are the most common colors. In general appearance he is a cobbily-built strong dog capable of great endurance. Naturally he must be strongly 'made in back and loins, well boned in legs and with feet well padded. The tail is generally docked to about three inches."

Dogcarts also had the advantage that the dogs guarded the contents.

The original name of the Rottweiler was "Rottweiler Metzgerhund" meaning "Rottweil butcher's dog": powerful dogs used to pull carts of meat and other produce to market.

There was a brief return to the use of dogs as draught animals during the First World War to pull small field guns!

This is a postcard No 123 published by Thomas van den Heuvel of Brussels.