Barking at the Knot

Barking at the Knot

Understanding the hidden history of animal services

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  • The Arsenic Club: Blackmail and Horse Poisoners, Part 1

    What did early cruelty investigations look like? Here’s one: A gang of horse poisoners going by the name The Arsenic Club set a reign of terror on the east side of Manhattan in 1909, killing more than 500 horses in just three months.

    Audrey Lodato

    January 19, 2026
    1900s, 1910s, Animal Welfare
    animal control, Animal Welfare, animals, Arsenic Club, ASPCA, Blackmail, Crime, Cruelty Investigation, Delivery Drivers History, dogs, East Side, Gilded Age, history, Horse Poisoners, horses, Humane Movement, hydrophobia, Manhattan, New York City, New York City Animal History, NYPD, pets, Poisoning, Police, Rabies, Sheffield Dairy, Star Ice Cream, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, The Apple Gang, The Arsenic Club, True Crime, writing
  • Sarah Edwards and The Midnight Band of Mercy

    In 1893, a group of well meaning cat ladies set upon Manhattan, chloroforming thousands of stray cats to death. This is the story of Sarah Edwards and the Midnight Bands of Mercy.

    Audrey Lodato

    November 5, 2025
    1890s, 1900s, Animal Welfare
    animal control, Animal Welfare, animals, Bands of Mercy, Cats, dogs, George Angell, history, Humane Movement, Kittens, Manhattan, Midnight Band of Mercy, Midnight Bands of MErcy, New York City, print media, Rabies, Sarah Edwards, Stray cats, strays
  • A Shelter for Animals – The First Annual Report

    Five months after the opening of the Shelter for Animals in Brooklyn, the ASPCA issued their thirtieth annual report. It contained some of the first ever intake and outcome data for shelters.

    Audrey Lodato

    October 7, 2025
    1890s, Animal Welfare
    1895, 1896, animal shelters, Animal Welfare, animal-rescue, animals, Annual Report, ASPCA, Brooklyn, Cats, dogs, history, Humane Movement, hydrophobia, Killing of pets, Manhattan, New York City, pets, Rabies, Victorian america, Victorian New York

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