‘Petropolis’ Exhibit Opens In New York
by Sherry Morse
The New York Historical Society’s newly opened "Petropolis" exhibit focuses on the social history of New York City pets over the last two hundred and fifty years.
The show begins with a series of Early American portraits of children and their pets, some of which included deer and squirrels, and progresses to show the ways in which pets have become considered essential members of modern families.
In between the exhibit shows how domestic animals came to be accepted as part of the human family in the nineteenth century and how in the early twentieth century they were welcomed into the family home.
Also shown in the exhibit is how the treatment of strays has changed for the better through the founding of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and other organizations.
The ASPCA began in 1866 as an organization to protect cart and carriage horses in the city and its founding charter is part of the exhibit.
Along with the more common dogs and cats, the exhibit also features tributes to rats and mice with a copy of the Mouse and Rat Gazette and pictures of ferrets, which are technically illegal in the city, but still to be found in many New York apartments.
Even iguanas, fish and turtles have space in the new exhibit.
The exhibit will be open until November 9, 2003, at the New York Historical Society’s building on Central Park West in Manhattan.
© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.
The New York Historical Society’s newly opened "Petropolis" exhibit focuses on the social history of New York City pets over the last two hundred and fifty years.
The show begins with a series of Early American portraits of children and their pets, some of which included deer and squirrels, and progresses to show the ways in which pets have become considered essential members of modern families.
In between the exhibit shows how domestic animals came to be accepted as part of the human family in the nineteenth century and how in the early twentieth century they were welcomed into the family home.
Also shown in the exhibit is how the treatment of strays has changed for the better through the founding of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and other organizations.
The ASPCA began in 1866 as an organization to protect cart and carriage horses in the city and its founding charter is part of the exhibit.
Along with the more common dogs and cats, the exhibit also features tributes to rats and mice with a copy of the Mouse and Rat Gazette and pictures of ferrets, which are technically illegal in the city, but still to be found in many New York apartments.
Even iguanas, fish and turtles have space in the new exhibit.
The exhibit will be open until November 9, 2003, at the New York Historical Society’s building on Central Park West in Manhattan.
© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.
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