Georgian Dog Care & Mercury Poisoning | Peter Beckford's Compassion & Contradiction (1787)

Two hounds clung together all night on a hedge surrounded by freezing floodwater. When the water receded, they were found "closely clasping each other—the friendly warmth that kept both alive." Peter Beckford in crisis reveals his true character.Part 2 explores Georgian veterinary practices: effective mange treatments (sulfur, whale oil, turpentine) versus deadly quicksilver remedies that killed dogs and poisoned staff. Discover the distemper epidemic (50-90% mortality), Beckford's experimental treatments, and the heartbreaking river disaster when his entire pack nearly drowned.The contradiction: a man who knew each hound by name while profiting from Jamaican slave plantations he never visited.