SangamonLink: In 1935, stray dogs in Springfield were shot in bid to stop rabies epidemic

Hoping to stop a rabies epidemic, authorities declared open season on stray dogs in Sangamon County in 1935. Police and dog catchers killed hundreds of dogs that year in what one Illinois State Journal headline called a “brutal” eradication campaign.

State agriculture officials put the county under a rabies quarantine on March 23, 1935. Under the order, animal control officers were told to kill any dog they found that wasn’t securely chained up or fenced in.

The quarantine simply intensified what Springfield authorities had been doing since the start of the year. City dog catcher Pete Solomon killed 261 dogs in February alone, newspapers reported.

Most dogs were killed privately, but not all. The Illinois State Journal reported on one shooting the day the quarantine began.

According to the dog’s owner, “the police drove up and without any warning shot the dog from a distance of about 20 feet. The wounded dog was able to run away and about noon returned to the home and was cared for in the basement until it died the following morning.

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“Why couldn’t they have told me what they were going to do and then taken the dog away to destroy it?” the owner told a reporter.

The state imposed the quarantine after a series of dog attacks in early 1935. Included were two incidents in which 11 schoolchildren – seven at Ridgely School and four at Enos School – were bitten by rabid dogs.

“There has been no indiscriminate killing of dogs,” Mayor John “Buddy” Kapp said, defending the quarantine. “We have only done our duty in the protection of human life.”

Among those who supported drastic action to curb rabies was Jesse Seeley of Springfield, whose son Richard, 13, had died from rabies two years earlier.

“A dog owner should comply with state law and put human life above the life of his dog,” Seeley said.

The anti-rabies campaign also became entangled in the 1935 election for Springfield mayor. Republicans, backed by the Illinois State Journal, supported legislator William Lawler for mayor in 1935. Kapp, seeking his second term, had the backing of the Illinois State Register, traditionally aligned with Democrats.

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Naturally, the Journal highlighted allegedly overzealous enforcement of the quarantine – perhaps accurately, in some cases.  Some statements by Lawler supporters, however, verged on parody.

Probate Judge Benjamin DeBoice, for instance, spoke at a Lawler rally in March. The Journal was there.

“’I am for Lawler,’ DeBoice said, ‘because I am interested in the boyhood of Springfield.’

“No boy’s life is complete without a dog and the killing of dogs has left a trail of tears among the youth and children in the city, Judge DeBoice declared.”

The Register, meanwhile, emphasized the dangers of rabid animals. It was the Register that reported on the statement by Jesse Seeley, and it was no coincidence that Seeley spoke at a Kapp campaign meeting.

“Anyone would think that Mr. Lawler was going to be mayor of the dogs instead of the people if he is successful on Tuesday,” Seeley told the meeting.

As it turned out, Kapp trounced Lawler, winning the second of his four terms as mayor.

On April 7, state veterinarian H.C. Rinehart said he was pleased by the success of the quarantine. He saw only one loose dog on a tour of Springfield the day before, he said.

“Until a few days ago, groups of dogs could be seen in many parts of the city,” he said.

Springfield’s rabies quarantine remained in effect into spring 1936, although restrictions were loosened so that dogs inoculated against rabies were exempt from being killed.

Originally published on SangamonLink.org, online encyclopedia of the Sangamon County Historical Society.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: In 1935, Springfield shot stray dogs in move to stop rabies epidemic