The Victorian Era changed everything for cats. Queen Victoria had been very isolated during her childhood. Animals and dolls were the only companions that she had. Perhaps this is why Queen Victoria would become an avid animal lover and advocate for animal rights. She was concerned with the treatment of domestic animals and took important steps to help the animals:
- Queen Victoria funded school prizes for essays written about kindness to animals.
- Queen Victoria spoke out publicly against the practice of vivisection (doing experiments on live animals) calling it “a disgrace to a civilized country.”
- In 1840, Queen Victoria gave her official patronage to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (thus it is “royal”). However, she did show a bit of hypocrisy with her love of hunting sports.
Though was known for loving dogs, Queen Victoria owned many pets. She purchased 2 Blue Persian cats that started a frenzy over the breed. Many people wanted cats that looked just like the Queen’s cats. Later in life, Queen Victoria had a black and white Persian named White Heather. White Heather outlived her and was adopted by her son.
The British people followed the Queen’s lead and fell in love with cats. Discovering different breeds of cat soon became of great public interest. Having pet cats that were lavished with affection caught on like wildfire. Some people began to personify cats so much that they would clothe them to keep them from being immodest.
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