- Perhaps you can own an elephant…Elephant??
- Historical File: Pets and the Titanic
- Did you know that there were 12 dogs aboard the Titanic when it sank (plus one cat – Jenny – that the cooks kept to keep the vermin at bay)? The rich and famous throughout history have kept their furry companions close by as they traveled – and the titanic was no exception. Most of the dogs were on F deck in kennels (and were walked daily by the crew on – you guessed it – the poop deck) but some of the first class passengers kept their dogs in their cabins (and likely paid the crew to “not see” them). It is also good to know that some things remain the same per an excerpt from a letter sent at the Titanic’s last stop in Ireland by the American painter Francis Davis Millet: “Looking over the [passenger] list I only find three or four people I know but there are … a number of obnoxious, ostentatious American women, the scourge of any place they infest, and worse on shipboard than anywhere. Many of them carry tiny dogs, and lead husbands around like pet lambs.” Three dogs survived the sinking – Lady (a Pomeranian owned by Margaret Hays) being the most famous and lived seven more years after being rescued. The other two owners – Elizabeth Rothschild and Henry and Myra Harper – managed to get their pets onto lifeboats as well. It is also told that Ann Elizabeth Isham refused to get on a lifeboat unless her Great Dane (name unknown) could also come. The other occupants of the lifeboat did not want the very large dog in the boat – and both owner and dog went down with the ship.
