Barking at the Knot

Barking at the Knot

Understanding the hidden history of animal services

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  • Madness and Its Remedies, or More Things That Didn’t Cure Rabies

    More folklore cures that didn’t cure rabies from an article in from 1844, plus a rant about intake as a default solution today.I also complain about snow a little bit.

    Audrey Lodato

    February 22, 2026
    1840s
    animal control, Animal Welfare, animals, Cats, cures, dog, dogs, folklore, history, hydrophobia, Impound, Intake, pets, public safety, Rabies, Social reform, stray management, systems, think differently
  • Good Dog! Good Person: The Folklore of Animal Control

    This guest post from James Rodgers, interim Executive Director for Increased Access, explores how social reform influenced the development of animal control policies.

    Audrey Lodato

    February 12, 2026
    1800s, Animal Welfare
    animal control, Animal Welfare, animal welfare history, animals, canadian animal control, Canadian animal welfare, Cats, dogs, Early Animal Control, history, Humane Movement, Indigenous communities, James Rodgers, Moral judgement, nature, pets, philosophy, politics, Social reform
  • Recommendations for Stray Dog Control in Relationship to Rabies: 1942

    Mass vaccination of dogs to prevent rabies still wasn’t recommended by scientists in 1942. Learn why.

    Audrey Lodato

    January 8, 2026
    1940s, Animal Welfare
    1940s animal welfare, 1942, animal control, animal control officers, Animal Control ordiances, Animal Welfare, animals, Cats, dog, dogs, health, history, Humane Movement, hydrophobia, Pasteur treatment, pets, Rabies, rabies ordinances, Stray dogs, stray pets, strays
  • Do Not Be Alarmed if Your Dog Has a Fit, Thinking Perhaps He Has Rabies

    Advice given to new pet owners in the 1928 issue of “Our Animals” included not washing the dog too much, and consulting with your vet before assuming the dog was rabid.

    Audrey Lodato

    January 1, 2026
    1920s, Animal Welfare
    Advice, animal control, Animal Welfare, animals, California, Cats, Christmas pets, dog, dogs, history, hydrophobia, Kittens, Louis Pasteur, Our Animals, pets, Puppies, Rabies, San Fransisco, Veterinary Medicine, Zoomies
  • How Holiday Illustrations Helped Shape Our Relationship with Cats

    In 1886, Louis Wain, artist and illustrator, finally had his drawings published in the form of an 11 panel series called “A Kitten’s Christmas Party” in the London Illustrated News. The illustrations featured drawings of anthropomorphized cats; that is, cats with people qualities, doing people things.

    Audrey Lodato

    December 25, 2025
    1880s, Animal Welfare
    Animal Welfare, animals, Cats, Christmas, Collectibles, England, Ephemra, history, Holiday, Illustrations, Kittens, Louis Wain, pets, Postcards, victorian
  • The History of Pets as Gifts: It’s Complicated.

    The controversy around giving pets as gifts didn’t develop for the reasons you might think. Check out how the concept has been viewed and how it has changed over the last 100 years.

    Audrey Lodato

    December 18, 2025
    Animal Welfare
    1990s, Accountability, animal control, Animal Welfare, animal welfare history, animals, Cats, dog, dogs, history, pets, Pets as gifts, Rabies, Spay and neuter, the humane movement
  • The Carlson Dog and Cat Procurement Law in California, 1952-1953

    In 1952, the Dog Defenders League waged an advertising campaign against laws allowing pets to be taken from shelters for the purpose of vivisection.

    Audrey Lodato

    December 5, 2025
    1950s, Animal Welfare
    1950s, Advertising, animal control, Animal History, animal shelter history, animal shelters, Animal Welfare, animals, Carlson law, Cats, Dissection, dog, dogs, history, hydrophobia, Laboratory animals, National Dog Week, pets, Pound Procurement laws, Rabies, Vivisection
  • In the Arms of the Angel: The Strange History of Sadvertising

    As an industry, we’ve often resorted to shocking imagery to relate to the public. But why? The history of Sadvertising has unexpected roots.

    Audrey Lodato

    November 28, 2025
    1980s, 1990s, Animal Welfare
    Advertising, animal control, animal shelters, Animal Welfare, animals, Cats, dogs, history, In the arms of the angel, pets, Sadvertising, Sarah McLaughlin, Shock and horror, Spay and neuter, The ASPCA, the humane movement, Transparency, Transparent, writing
  • “Lay Low and Say Nuffin’”: The Henry Bergh Humane Society, Part Four

    A bill is introduced in Albany to give the Henry Bergh Humane Society the legal right to enforce the law in New York City. Opinions in the papers heat up.

    Audrey Lodato

    November 26, 2025
    1910s, Animal Welfare
    A.S.P.C.A., Albany, animal control, Animal Welfare, animals, ASPCA, Barking at the Knot, Cats, dogs, Gilded Age, history, horses, Humane Movement, hydrophobia, John P. Haines, Muckracking, news, pets, politics, Rabies, The Henry Bergh Humane Society, The Newspapers, writing
  • “Those Dissatisfied with the Conduct of Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals”: The Henry Bergh Society, Part One

    Advocacy can get ugly. Read about the Henry Bergh Humane Society and their efforts to oust A.S.P.C.A. President John P. Haines from his post in the early 1900s.

    Audrey Lodato

    November 12, 2025
    1900s, Animal Welfare
    animal control, Animal Welfare, animal welfare history, animals, ASPCA, bible, books, Cats, christianity, dogs, genealogy, Henry Bergh, history, Humane Law, Humane Movement, hydrophobia, Investigative journalism, Muckracking, New York City, pets, The Henry Bergh Humane Society
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