Just a heads up, this episode deals with historical violence towards animals, dogs specifically

as part of Victorian medical practices.

I'm a little bit squeamish about that kind of thing, and I thought some of you might

be as well, so consider yourself warned.

That said, it's a fascinating story worth knowing about, so I'm on the show.

At our sea park covers 200 acres right along the Thames River in London.

And there are fountains and beautiful plants and a children's zoo in there, but there's

also a small, life-size statue of a handsome quirky terrier.

It's got a cute face and a surprisingly contentious history.

The local people would surround the statue and try to defend it, they'd have lots of

fights.

This would be cold, and this was about principle.

I'm Dylan Therese, and this is Atlas Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible

and wondrous places.

And today, we're going to Battersea Park in London to hear the story of this charming

statue of a dog and about the riots that it inspired.

More, after this.

Around the turn of the 20th century, doctors were trying to learn more and more about how

the human body worked.

And one of the ways that they were learning was by experimenting on animals.

What people were starting to do was cutting open animals to learn about physiology and

how the body works.

...