Face the facts: Pets are with us and all around us. Around 2 million in New York City fill our hearts and homes. As an asthmatic friend once told me, getting rid of her cats is a nonnegotiable. They are simply members of the family.
Throughout the New York Historical Society’s diligently and lovingly researched exhibit, Pets & the City, the walls are painted with animals, fire hydrants, and all manner of feathered and furry friends to engage visitors of all ages.
The word “pet” derives from the French word “petit,” which in the 16th century referred affectionally to an indulged child. Though our beloved companions come in all shapes and sizes, the word has firmly entrenched itself in our culture. A panorama of works of art and treasured memorabilia are on display. A Chalkware cat figurine with a mouse firmly ensconced in her mouth is only one of many miniatures in which to revel.
Indigenous cultures of the Northeast viewed animals as kindred spirits, even adopting clan titles as in Raven, Deer Bear, Loon, etc. Man as hunter had rituals in place to honor the slain animal. As New York thrived as a port city, all manner of exotic birds, reptiles, mammals, and even rats could be found in a domestic setting.
John Durand’s portraiture in the mid-18th century evoked the tenderness between Mary Beekman and her little lamb. During the 19th century, a growing interest in natural history carried over to the Victorian parlor, with birdcages, fishbowls, and dog collars becoming design objects. In Charles Willson Peale’s family portrait, he places his dog Argus at the bottom of the canvas. (Argus was the name of Odysseus’s faithful dog, the only one who recognized him after his 20-year absence.)
John Sloan, a famous Ashcan School painter, illustrated the resident cats of McSorley’s Bar for Harpers Weekly. He is also represented by Alley Cat (1907), evoking a lone feline wandering icy puddles on a bleak winter’s night. A brighter rendition of cat as subject is Holding Cat in Orange. Jessica Alazarki, a New Yorker originally from Mexico City, infuses her work with the warmth of familia (family). Playful children rendered in a colorful palette make for a delightful composition. But the cat held aloft, illuminated by the window light, makes for an indelible image in the round.
A hooked rug featuring a resting pooch was created by an unidentified artist. We’ll never know if the subject was a family pet or a sentimental figment of the artist’s imagination.
Enlightening text abounds about the travails city animals endured through the years. Draft horses were worked mercilessly in the Lower East Side and elsewhere as “carriage animals.” Stray dogs were rounded up regularly and drowned in the river. It was Henry Bergh, aware of their plight, who founded the ASPCA in 1866. Initially created for the horses, the organization offered free water and even a fitted ambulance for the wounded animals. His efforts later included dogs, cats, turtles, guinea pigs and such. In Bergh’s prescient words, “Men will be just to men when they are kind to animals.”
A video screen with a conveniently placed sofa allows for comfortable viewing of several contemporary films and TV sources. Clips from Lady and the Tramp, Seinfeld, Batman’s “Ace” to the tabby “Cat” in Breakfast at Tiffany’s stir our sentiments.
There are two canines in particular whose stories tug at the heartstrings. Riley, a rescue dog during 9/11 is seen carried in a basket over a 60-foot canyon at the World Trade Center. Trained in rescuing the living, he was instrumental in finding bodies in the North Tower rubble. This brave worker passed away in 2007 at the age of 13. Happily, he is immortalized among other canine heroes in Dog Heroes of 9/11.
An earlier pug hero, Sargent Stubby (1916-1926) was found wandering the Yale University campus in 1917 and was smuggled to France by the 102nd Infantry Regiment. He participated in 17 battles, saving many from mustard gas and comforting the wounded. He was awarded many honors, including the Purple Heart, his remains now residing in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Organizations like PET CAR NYC offer hassle-free service for pets and their owners. Photographer Jamie McCarthy captured one of the riders awaiting his turn at the Animal Medical Center. One of my favorite photographs by Claudia Lynn shows a pug and his human owners dressed in flame costumes for the 33rd Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in 2023.
The writer Christopher Hitchens sagely recognized that with dogs, “if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.”
Isn’t it heartwarming to know that in New York City, our gods walk among us?
Postscript: Flaco the Owl (March 15, 2010 – February 23, 2024)
A special exhibition housed adjacent to Pets & the City details the sightings of Flaco, the male Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped his long-time residency at Central Park Zoo after someone cut the protective netting of his enclosure. Attempts to recapture Flaco failed, and a petition was circulated advocating that he remain free. Zoo officials ceased attempts to recapture him once it became clear he was eating on a regular basis and his flying skills improved. He remained in Central Park for nine months, eventually wandering to nearby buildings and neighborhoods in lower Manhattan in February 2024. One year after his escape, Flaco died after colliding with a building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
If there was any doubt about New Yorkers’ interest and love for their feathered friends, it is dispelled by the passion shown for this plucky owl. Many distinctive photographs are mounted in the exhibit hallway to memorialize the bird, such as David Lei’s close-up of Flaco atop an Upper West Side Water Tower.
Author Bio:
Sandra Bertrand is Highbrow Magazine’s chief art critic.
For Highbrow Magazine
Photos from the exhibit: Chalkware Cat and Mouse, unidentified, New York Historical Society; Mary Beekman (1766-1831), 1766, John Durand, New York Historical Society; Hooked Rug (1850-1900), unidentified, New York Historical Society; Rescue dog Riley being transported out the debris of the World Trade Center, 2001, Greg Mathieson, Mai/Getty Images; Sargent Stubby (1916-1926), unidentified, The Protected Art Archive, Alamy Stock Photo; Alley Cat (1907), John Sloan, Collection of Elie and Sarah Hirschfeld; Holding Cat in Orange, 2021, Jessica Alizarki, Pamela and David Hornik Collection; PET CAB NYC at the Animal Medical Center and on a delivery, 2021, Jamie McCarthy; Guy Fieri French bulldog with human companions, Tompkins Square Halloween Day Parade, October 1, 2023, Claudia Lynn; Flaco Hooting Atop Upper West Side Water Tower, December 2, 2023, David Lei.)