The Rise of Animal Protectionists in the Nineteenth Century

Historians debate whether animal protectionists were mainly concerned about the welfare of animals. Or if they were more concerned about the working classes being cruel to animals and therefore spreading cruelty and immorality amongst the wider population. I kind of think it was a mixture of the twon. So some animal protectionists, they wanted to to rescue all street dogs, so they didn't want to kill any street dogs. Other animal protectionists began to really distinguish between pet dogs who deserved care, compassion, and street dogs who were diseased, degenerate,. that's what some of the animal protectionists felt.