From the archive: the alarming rise in exotic pets, September 1965
The Observer Magazine of 19 September 1965 (‘Is the pet business getting out of hand?’) reflected worries about the surge in exotic pets from Africa, Asia and South America. In 1952, 80 foreign animals arrived at London Airport every month; in 1965 the average was 8,000. ‘They are the affluent society’s new pampered prestige symbols’ and are ‘becoming more flamboyant every year’ wrote a horrified Charles Bloomberg. ‘People are even installing private zoos in their backyards.’ There was nothing new about pets, of course, but what was new was the fad for ‘weird, grotesque a...
Source: theguardian.com
