Although sled-dogs are well known, dogs have long been used to pull wheeled carts. This was banned in Britain around the beginning of the 20th Century as being cruel, but dogs were still traditionally used to pull milk carts in continental Europe. Most of these photos are from Belgium at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th Century. Dog-carts have been used in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, not only for milk, but also for selling bread, vegetables and other produce. Dog-carts were also used in Quebec, Canada around the same period, the wares including newspapers and water dispensed from a large keg. Even today, there are a few dog-drawn milk carts in France and Belgium - used for delivery churns from small farms to the dairy for processing - but these environmentally friendly carts tend to be novel forms of exercise for the dogs rather than necessity for the owners.
In recent years, the racing of wheeled dog-sleds has begun in Britain and dog carts may once again make a comeback, albeit as a fun activity for dogs and owners (with due attention given to the dogs' welfare).
Draught dog during First World War.
Flemish dog-drawn carts were a popular subject for postcards in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Many show milk-carts, often with a milk inspector.
Flemish dog-drawn carts were a popular subject for postcards in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Many show milk-carts, often with a milk inspector.
Dutch or Belgian draught dog, 1915.
Draught dog pulling a considerable load, 1901.
Draught dog pulling a considerable load, Antwerp, 1902.
Two children being transported in a dog-cart.
A dog-drawn monkey-organ cart (late 19th or early 20th century).
The "Pup-mobile" (1906) was a dog-cart that ran on the railway track near Nome, Alaska. The weight of railway rolling stock (especially the metal wheels) meant it was drawn by a team of 7 or 8 dogs and had more in common with a dog-sled team than with the European dog-carts.
Dogcarts were generally used for transporting goods or people by those
who could not afford equines or oxen or where there wasn't enough room
to manouevre those larger draught animals e.g. in narrow streets or
crowded cities. In rural areas, the dogs were multi-purpose and might
also be household guard dogs. During the First Crusade, after the
horses and mules had starved, dogs carried people and supplies towards
Jerusalem. Dog carts also have the advantage that the dogs guarded the
contents.
Dog carts remained widespread into the 19th and early 20th centuries. It
was not the rise of the motorcar that wiped them out, it was the
somewhat misplaced concern of animal welfare organisations that believed
using dogs for haulage was ill-treatment while accepting the use of
horses, donkeys, mules and oxen. While a few dogs were mistreated (as
were equines and oxen), the majority of dogcart owners regarded their
dogs as friends. Meanwhile, horses and oxen might be considered merely
living motors and risked being worked to death; the unfortunate horses
and donkeys often ended up as food for the dogs via the thriving
knackers yards. In turn, the dogs' faeces collected from the street was
used in the leather-tanning industry.
In England, the RSPCA regarded dog-carting as "cruel servitude", yet
permitted the use of draught horses and oxen. This typified the
confused English attitude towards different animal species. In 1839,
the Dog Cart Nuisance Act prohibited the use of cart dogs within 15
miles of London's Charing Cross rail station. The fear of the spread of
rabies, believed to be exacerbated by overworked dogs, led to a ban on
all draught dogs and a tax on working dogs such as sheepdogs (whose
tails were docked to show they were taxed). Poorer households that
relied on working dogs for their livelihood could not afford to keep
dogs that weren't permitted to work. Many dogs were abandoned to starve
and at least 150,000 were destroyed in the first year of the new
legislation. Often children replaced the dogs in pulling the carts,
there being no laws against child labour.
In Continental Europe, legislation was aimed at ensuring dogs had a comfortably fitting harness, could lie down and rest without being unhitched and were not overloaded. Although dog-carts are not legal on British roads, gaily-painted European-style milk-carts are popular attractions at dog-shows as the photos of this Bernese dog and his various carts demonstrate. Far from being cruelly treated, this dog clearly enjoys his "work".
Bernese dog with Swiss milk-carts and flower-cart (2011 Essex Dog Day, Crix, Hatfield Peveral, Essex)
While not road-legal in Britain, modern dogcarts are used for
recreational purposes such as carting on grass or dirt trails, dog-drawn
child-size carts and dogs accompanying hikers might also pull light
supply carts/sleds. Most dogs enjoy being working members of their
human pack. Today, the RSPCA would become concerned if the dog was in
poor condition, the harness was poorly fitted, the dog was overworked or
the load was too heavy. Dogcarts are unlikely to become road legal
because modern traffic is too dangerous and because of dog-fouling laws.
LIONCARTS
This young lion in an American zoo (circa 1930) is pulling a cart with young children in. Once it is fully grown, it would not be safe to harness a lion to give cart rides to children.
