Bandit! Barbarian!
Propaganda
In the grounds of the Institute of Experimental Medicine in St Petersburg there stands a stone monument dedicated to the laboratory dog. It was built at Pavlov’s request, and includes various inscriptions that describe the ‘sacrifice’ of dogs to science as noble and necessary, emphasise the dogs’ ‘joy’ in their service to the experimenter, and the ‘dignity’ of their treatment, and avoidance of any ‘unnecessary torment’.
The statue can be thought of as a piece of propaganda, broadcasting to the world Pavlov’s message that a laboratory dog’s suffering was kept to a minimum, and wholly justified by knowledge gained, and any loss of life a regrettable but necessary sacrifice.
Protest
Whilst this was a view shared by many men (and they were almost exclusively men) of science at the time, it did not go unchallenged. And often by women, who were central to the anti-vivisection movement in Russia and globally.
Pavlov faced protest abroad, but back in Russia too, the movement often targeted Pavlov’s practices in letters and pamphlets and protested at his public appearances.
They pointedly (and correctly) questioned his assertion that experiments were completely painless, and that the dogs were happy and healthy – claims he repeatedly made in public.
Our diorama is created as a counterpoint to the usual story about Pavlov as a caring man who never willingly hurt his animals, still often repeated today, and the assumption that the public went along with it. It is a reminder that Pavlov’s methods really were challenged, at home and abroad.
We imagine a version of the monument as a target for protestors, just as many statues have become such a focal point for progressive political movements in recent years.