Cruelty of Fashion

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 21, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 25.

Cruelty of Fashion.

It is not alone the slaughter of birds that must be charged to the account of Fashion’s devotees, but the poor dogs must suffer likewise. Says the Kansas City Star: “For the ladies' trade exclusively, breeders now turn out remarkable dog deformities. The pet bulldogs, for example, are now bred with legs as bandy as those of dachshunds, for it is the fashion to own bull puppies that have abnormally wide shoulders and exaggerated lowness in front. To gain this result the unfortunate animal is confined during the period of his most rapid growth in such a small space that his body is actually forced down and out, and the tender bones of the forelegs bent. The fancy dachshunds undergo similar severe training in many instances, and thus the modern love of curiosities is satisfied.”

It is sad, isn't it? Just think: Corset and shoe deformed and tortured women petting deformed and tortured dogs, riding behind deformed and tortured horses, wearing the remains of tortured birds! All for fashion! Verily the fickle dame hath many worshipers.