Book review: The City is More Than Human : An Animal History of Seattle by Frederick Brown.

by Jill Allyn

Among the few heirlooms I have from my father’s family is a cow bell that belonged to his grandparents. They owned an orchard and kept cows on what is now Capitol Hill in the late 1800s. I have always had many questions about this family story, and many of them were answered by this book.

The City is More Than Human is thoroughly researched, heavily documented, and includes wonderful period photos and useful maps. Not only is it a history of Seattle’s relationships to cows, pigs, horses, chickens, dogs and salmon, it is the story of a place changing from a settlement to a densely populated urban center. The author includes discussions of key ideas such as the shrinking town commons, where cattle and dogs could roam at will, and the sorting of animals into pets and farm animals.

Concerns about the animals living in Seattle were evident from our early records: of the first seven ordinances passed by the Seattle City Council in 1869, three were about animals. One required dogs to be licensed (but not confined), another covered circus animals, and the third prohibited reckless driving of horses through town. As the city grew, farm animals were pushed out to rural areas. The arrival of the railroads meant that farm produce could be sent into the city quickly and still be fresh, a must for eggs, milk and meat consumption. Finally, the pressure for Seattle to be seen as a healthy and sophisticated urban center led to a city-wide leash law referendum in 1958.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in the intersection of the history of Seattle and its animals. It is a fact filled book that is engaging and informative. As for my cow bell, it is clear from neighborhood association records that the noise from such bells got on the nerves of city residents and provided yet another reason to remove the cows from the city.

University of Washington Press, 2016; 332 pp. Paperbound.