Not all scam artists prey on suckers’ desire to get rich quick or cheat the system. Some of them prey on their marks’ better impulses, like their love for their pet dogs or their willingness to help a stranger in an emergency.
Content note: This episode contains discussion of animal cruelty and inhumane and misguided medical practices. It contains some outdated language about epilepsy.
Featured image: The Actress Rejane and her Dog, a1885 painting by an Italian painter showing a stylish lady and her dog in the late 1800s. (Image source)
Sources – Dognappers in London
- Snakes, Apes and Ferrets: The Ancient Greek Love of Pets
- The Evolution of Petface
- King Louis XVI’s Toy Poodles
- How the dog found a place in the family home – from the Victorian age to ours
- Dog stealing – HC Deb 09 July 1844
- Dog Stealing Bill
- The Dognapping of the Century
- To Flush, My Dog
- The Literary Love Story of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning
- Victorian Exhibitionism and Eugenics: The Case of Francis Galton and the 1899 Crystal Palace Dog Show
- The surprising history of Victorian dog shows
- How to Keep Your Dog Safe When Pet Theft Is on the Rise
- Pet Theft
- 15 States That Have Stolen Dog Laws & 10 Most Common Stolen Dog Breeds
- Lady Gaga Got Her Dogs Back, but as Criminals Capitalize on the Demand for Pandemic Pups, Others Aren’t So Lucky
Sources – James Clegg, the Dummy Chucker
- Rogue Wounds
- Epilepsy during the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment
- Dummy Chuckers
- Torments of Hospitals
- The history of Epilepsy Society
- Epilepsy Hall of Fame
- Highights in the History of Epilepsy: The Last 200 Years
- Epilepsy: a short history
- Feigned Epilepsy for Years
- Effects of Seizures on Autonomic and Cardiovascular Function
- The Dummy-Chucker By Arthur Somers Roche