HISTORY

Coal, Cruelty and The Industrial Revolution: Pit Ponies

Animals abused and people exploited

RSPCA poster raising awareness of pit pony’s plight — photo by author

We look at the Industrial Revolution as the birth of our modern world, introducing major changes to our ways of life, making things easier, bringing prosperity to the masses and more comfortable ways of living. However, there’s a dark side, and it’s not just climate change.

I spent time recently in South Wales, where the former coal mines used to operate, and I visited museums exploring the history of the coal mining industry.

The Industrial Revolution was the primary driver in the huge demand for coal. Coal was used to drive steam engines, to make metal goods and bridges, to warm people’s homes and businesses, and it was used in construction.

Coal mining provided employment, but it was also abusive, exploitative and devastating for animals that got sucked into it. Tens of thousands of horses were taken down into dark mines and left there for the rest of their short lives, dying prematurely at the age of about 3, from respiratory problems related to coal dust.

It was the law that canaries must be sacrificed routinely to check for air quality, to confirm there was no carbon monoxide in the mines. If there was carbon monoxide, the canary would die…