Responding to Animal Suffering in Transit by Steam in 19th-Century Britain

In the 1830s and 1840s, animal transportation by rail and steamer gradually replaced traditional long-distance droving in Britain. Responding to the posthumanist calls for critical attention to the experience of nonhuman actors in history, this article first explores how each aspect of this new mode of transportation affected the bodily experience of the animals, including their embarkation, stowage, ventilation and other uses of equipment fitted on the vessel, the provision of care, and disembarkation. It then discusses how those people who were affected by witnessing the animals’ experience responded to it in light of two contributory factors: first, the outbreak of cattle plague in 1865 and, second, the growing calls for greater humanity to animals. In conclusion, the article summarizes the legislative advances that were made in pursuit of this humanitarian aim by reviewing the first and last pieces of relevant legislation that were passed prior to the First World War—the 1870 Transit of Animals Order and the 1912 Animals (Transit and General) Order. The article further illustrates how the simple logic of paying attention and responding to the experience of other lifeworlds helped establish the first milestones in animal transit legislation in the age of steam transport.