Few facts will better illustrate the vast scale on which almost
everything presents itself in the English metropolis, even so humble a
subject as that of poor dogs that have temporarily lost their masters,
than one mentioned in the Annual Report of the Chief Commissioner of
Police. He informs us that nearly nineteen thousand (more than 18,800)
stray dogs were taken charge of by the police in the metropolis during
the year 1876! A little romance might be mixed up with the story of
most of these homeless wanderers, if we could but know it: how Carlo or
Boxer was distressed at losing his protector. The animals were either
taken for a while to the Dogs’ Home at Battersea, or were otherwise
provided for.