XXXIV. [Prohibition of Dog Carts.] And be it further enacted, That after the First Day of January next every Person who within the City of London and the Liberties thereof shall use any Dog for the Purpose of drawing or helping to draw any Cart, Carriage, Truck, or Barrow, shall be liable to a Penalty not more than Forty Shillings for the First Offence, and not more than Five Pounds for the Second or any following Offence.
– The Metropolitan Police Act, 1839, banning the use of dog-carts within fifteen miles of Charing Cross
After the City of London banned dog-carts, a general bill was introduced into Parliament in 1841 to prohibit the use of dog-carts throughout Britain, on humanitarian grounds.
However, they continued to be used in Continental Europe. Dog-carts were used for local deliveries, for milkman’s daily rounds in particular. A team of two dogs was common. Dog and goat carts were also common in North America. The photo above shows Mary Pickford in the 1920 film Polyanna (© Bettmann/CORBIS).
The photo below shows an early 1900s ‘triporteur’ hand-cart that would have been pushed from behind with, in this case, the assistance of a dog pulling it.
1890s Charrette Peugeot
In the 1890s, Peugeot produced the charrette, a small passenger cart pulled by hand, or by a dog or goat. It’s an interesting reminder of final decade before motorized transport took over the roads. There’s a fabulous plaque on the side showing the manufacturer’s name.
PERIOD PHOTOS OF CHARRETTE PEUGEOT
BELGIAN DOGCART POSTCARDS
STUDEBAKER GOAT WAGON, USA
CART-DOGS
And the final word goes to this postcard, where the dog becomes the passenger…
6 dog cart photos: http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2008/10/dog-carts-and-extinction-of-memory.html
The debate in Parliament about the bill banning dog-carts – https://historum.com/threads/the-banning-of-dog-carts-in-victorian-britain.37448/
