by Shannon Butler
If you have been reading this history blog since the beginning, you will see that quite frequently, we mention dogs (that’s because the writer of these posts is a dog-mom first, and a historian second). So, let’s not break from tradition. In this blog post, we decided to look at an interesting piece of dog history. Twenty twenty-three marks 215 years since the New York State Legislature decided that all dog owners must make sure that their dogs have collars and that their family name (meaning the owner’s) is visible on that collar. Is this a very random piece of history? Yes, it is. Did you know this random fact? Probably not.
You may be asking yourself, what happened over 200 years ago to prompt the powers that be to come to the decision that dogs must have some sort of identification? The main reason for this law has to do with a lot of dead sheep. In the beginning of the 19th century, it is quite likely that if you were living in the area, you had some form of livestock on your property. Whether it was something big like a horse or cow, or you raised chickens in your back garden for their eggs, most people of the time period had free-roaming animals. There are plenty of early mentions in the newspapers of people losing their sheep to wounds or even death due to dog attacks. In 1789, the New York State Legislature passed a tax on dog owners, in which it stated that if you had one dog, the tax was one shilling, if you had two dogs, it was five shillings. If your dog managed to kill someone’s sheep, you would be liable to pay the damages. However, it wasn’t always easy to know whose dog was causing such damage. Hence the reason for the new law in 1808, stating,
“Within six months after the passing of this act, put and keep on such dog a collar of brass or iron inscribed with such owner or owners’ name, and the place of his abode”
Most good dog owners were happy to follow these laws. Indeed, we have evidence from centuries ago that people loved their dogs just as dearly as we love our dogs today. As early as 1787, we see the first mention of a lost dog and a very worried owner in the Poughkeepsie Journal. By the 1870s, there were ads for dogs for sale of various breeds and in 1929 the American Kennel Club was hosting a dog show at the Dutchess County Fair. As we have mentioned in previous blog posts, dogs were regulars at the Vail Brothers photography studio on Main Street. We have several beautiful portraits of people with their canine friends, dogs standing stoically, and even a puppy dressed up like a baby in our collection. It wasn’t cheap to have one’s photo made, so to take the time and money to have a keepsake of your dog meant that this was more than just a pet.
References:
The Country Journal – 3 Oct 1787, 31 Mar 1789
Poughkeepsie Journal – 2 Nov 1808, 13 Sep 1872, 27 Aug 1929
Photos:
Vail-DrHowlanddog – Photo of Dr. Howland’s dog dressed as a baby, Vail Brothers Photography Studio, 1878. LH Collections
Vail-MrRChandlerdog – Photo of Mr. R. Chandler’s dog, Vail Brothers Photography Studio, 1878. LH Collections
Vail-boyanddog – Photo of a little boy with his puppy, Vail Brothers Photography Studio, circa 1890. LH Collections
Vail-HamieFondaDog – Photo of Hamie Fonda and his terrier, Vail Brothers Photography Studio, 1878, LH Collections