Campaign for memorial to WW2 pet massacre

[Catherine]

We have talked about this before, how at the beginning of WW2 people were advised to kill their pets. It is thought that 2 million pets died in the panic. Some died hopefully humanely at the hands of a vet. Some were tossed in rivers to drown.

It is hoped that finally there can be a memorial to these war dead. They certainly died because of the war and many died needlessly. It is time they were remembered.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...-WWII.html

I think a bronze statue would be alright. We have statues to things that don't deserve recognition. (There is a long story here, but it belongs somewhere else) It is about time we have a statue to something that does.

There is also a book about animals in WW2 called Bonzo's War. The author, Clare Campbell and Nicola White are behind the campaign. I hope they raise the money they need to complete the project. All the pets that died needlessly should never be forgotten.

[Tobi]

It is good to honour them and remember them. The statue will show many people what happened. The younger people, and those who don't already know.
I don't think enough was said about this. My own mother told me hundreds of stories of the war and the war effort. I grew up with that. But I never heard one person mention anything about this animal massacre and the cruelty involved.

I am glad to hear the authors of "Bonzo's War" have campaigned to remember those who passed. The book would be a good read I am sure but not easy reading.

Whatever was recommended by the government, people had a choice as far as I can make out. They were so easily brainwashed into destroying their animals. It shows me that it does not take much announcement from "authority" to de-humanise a person and affect their moral fibre, and that is shocking

I suppose they were told they would be unable to feed them. But I am sure there were others who would have been willing to  give their animals food off their own plates.
Even with rationing in effect.

[Catherine]

It is a chapter in the war story that should never be forgotten. Yes it might have been hard, but the cats would have helped with the mice and rats. Dogs would have eaten anything at all and been happy. Dogs with their sharp hearing would have helped keep people safe. They would have provided comfort to frightened children.

People did what they were told without question. The sent their children away because the government told them to. I hope we will never act so compliant again. If we are being told to do something we don't agree with we should say no. If enough people resist then we will stop it.

Since no one acted to save the pets we should recognize what they went through and honour them as war dead.

[Tobi]

My husband's mother (separated from his father at that time) heard she had to send her son away. He was re-located rom London to the north of England age 4.

When he had left, she suffered a nervous breakdown, from which she never recovered. She got worse, and when they were eventually re-united- (would you believe it....he was brought back just in time for the London Blitz?!) -she no longer recognised him. She was hospitalised for the rest of her life.
Such a terribly sad story.
So many lives were torn apart.

[Catherine]

Lives were destroyed by decisions like that. Children were treated as packages to be moved to safety with no regard for their feelings and the feelings of their parents. No mother could let her four year old go and not be effected. Some children never returned or were so changed that they didn't fit in. Farmers took the bigger boys so they could make them work on the farm. 
It was a sad time.
That poor woman had her whole life destroyed. I don't think sending her child away was a good decision and neither was the decision to kill people's pets. The people were damaged and destroyed by their own government who clearly didn't care how people felt.

A memorial for the pets is long over due.  Is there any kind of memorial for the children who suffered because of evacuations. They should be recognized as well.