Animals on Board
Unfortunately, many animals lost their lives aboard the Titanic. While that may seem tangential, the animals on board are another symbol of aristocracy. Almost all of the pets were owned by first-class passengers who were willing to pay about a child's ticket price for each animal. Meanwhile, the only third-class "pets" were the rats, which people often joke are the first to board the boats.
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Warning: As you likely expect, this section is incredibly tragic. Read at your own risk.
Dogs
Carried at least 12 dogs, only three of which survived. It is likely almost all on board were owned by first-class passengers who paid top dollar to have their pets travel with them. Each pet had its own ticket and was meant to be kept in the kennels although many passengers kept theirs in their cabins. Crew likely either didn’t see or decided not to care. Some spoke disapprovingly of the women carrying around their lap dogs, but most were happy to see them. So much so that the dog owners had planned to hold a show aboard the ship on the morning of April 15th but it never got to occur.
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A King Charles Spaniel and an elderly Airedale Terrier owned by William and Lucile Carter. Owners survived.
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A Chow Chow owned by stockbroker Harry Anderson. Owner survived
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A champion French Bulldog owned by Robert Williams Daniel who had bought him for a high price, £150 which would equate to $17.5k in the U.S. today. Owner survived.
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Kitty an Airedale Terrier owned by John Jacob Astor, perished with her owner.
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A male Pomeranian owned by Margaret Bechstein Hays named Bebe (often called Lady in the press). Both survived.
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Another Pomeranian was on the boat, owned by Martin and Elizabeth Rothschild. Elizabeth and the dog survived, while Martin did not.
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A Pekingese called Sun Yat Sen was owned by Henry Sleeper Harper and his wife Myra. The couple and the dog survived.
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Freu-Freu a poodle owned by Helen Bishop, was allowed to stay in her cabin because it was “too pretty” to put with the bigger dogs in the kennels
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There were likely more dogs on board but there are no details about them
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All died except for Bebe (Lady) who made it on lifeboat 7 with his owner and a blanket around him, Sun Yat Sen who made it in lifeboat 3 with its owners and their servant Hammad Hassab whom they acquired while in Egypt on a tour of Europe and Asia, Mr. Harper said, “There seemed to be lots of room, and nobody made any objection.”, and Martin and Elizabeth Jane Rothschild’s Pomeranian who was hidden on lifeboat 6 by Elizabeth, she insisted the Carpathia staff let her take the dog on board. Mr. Rothschild did not survive. All were first-class pets smuggled into staterooms that were kept on the lifeboats covered by blankets.
Other Animals
The ship had an official cat named Jenny who moved from the Olympic and was used to control the rat population. She had given birth in the week before Titanic sailed from Southhampton and she and the kittens lived in the galley where staff fed her scraps from the kitchens.
Stewardess Violet Jessop wrote that the cat “laid her family near Jim, the scullion, whose approval she always sought and who always gave her warm devotion”
Other animals aboard include the four roosters and hens brought on by Ella Holmes White of New York who had imported them from France to improve her home poultry stock. Another woman was said to have brought 30 cockerels aboard and Elizabeth Ramel Nye brought her yellow canary which had a ticket worth 25 US cents (about 8$ today). The canary survived as it got off along with its owner and possibly her two dogs at Cherbourg Harbour after they left Southhampton.
Near Misses
Elizabeth Ramel Nye brought two dogs and a yellow canary aboard. Paying 25 cents for the canary. She and the pets disembarked at Cherbourg Harbour after Titanic left Southhampton.
Passenger Charles Moore of Washington, D.C. made a last-minute change to his plans to transport aboard the Titanic 100 English Foxhounds that he wanted for a fox hunt in D.C. Luckily, they were shipped on another vessel. Moore would end up lost in the sinking.
Ben the Borzoi who is photographed with the captain was thankfully not on the boat. He spent one night on it then went home. Specifically, Captain Smith had sent him to stay with his daughter because she was upset that the Titanic's voyage would mean her father would miss her birthday.
Myths
There are rumors that Ann Isham, one of the 4 first-class women who died during the sinking, had a large dog (possibly a Great Dane or St Bernard) who she refused to be parted from and died alongside. Several days later, while the SS Bremen passes through an area strewn with debris a passenger saw what she thought was a woman tightly holding what could have been this dog in her arms. This story does not have much proof to back it.
Rigel a black Newfoundland dog is purported to have been on the ship and saved many survivors but there is no strong evidence the dog really existed. Supposedly the dog belonged to First Officer William Murdoch but there is no real proof he ever actually owned any pets. The story said that such a large dog would be sort of “well-insulated” enough to withstand the freezing water and supposedly helped save passengers in the water by pushing them and barking as the Carpathia approached trying to locate lifeboats. This story does not really stand up to fact-checking and would likely not be possible for any dog.
Caretakers
At the time, the butcher on the ship traditionally cared for the animals aboard as a leftover tradition from the butcher caring for other livestock when more traveled on board. Still, this may not have been the case on board the Titanic as there are many claims of different caretakers and it is likely many helped with the tasks. Some additional caretakers were the ship's joiner (carpenter) Josh Hutchinson who may have helped feed them and take them on daily walks on the poop deck with the bell boys. Passengers could visit the dogs whenever they wanted and take them for a walk on deck if desired.
Pet Insurance
Many passengers who survived the sinking but lost pets put in insurance claims for the loss of their pets. Harry Anderson’s Chow Chow died and he put in a claim for 50$. William Carter claimed $300 for the loss of his two dogs. Ella Holmes White claimed $200 for her lost chickens. Robert Williams Daniel claimed $750 for the loss of his bulldog (whom he is pictured with here). Supposedly, the prize bulldog was last seen swimming for his life after the ship went down.
Leaving a Pet Behind
Freu Freu, is a poodle who was left behind by her owner to be fair to the humans trying for a spot. The dog was desperate to come, and her owner Helen Bishop had a hard time leaving her behind “ "The loss of my dog ​​was very painful. I will never forget how she clung to my dress, even breaking the seam. She wanted to come with me ..."
Freedom while Sinking
John Jacob Astor allegedly freed all the dogs left from the ship’s kennel in the last 20 minutes before the ship sunk. Sadly, both he and his own dog Kitty (pictured together right), died. Another story says that survivor Richard Williams spoke with the man who released the dogs from the Kennels (a survivor, *not* Astor, who was a victim). While many survivors confirmed the kennels were opened, there is no way to prove who opened them, so believe what you wish.
Kennels - A Location Mystery
Official plans for the Titanic show the dog kennels to be located aft of the third class galley on the F deck (seen right). This location makes some sense, being out of the way and closer to the galleys where the butchers would work. Butchers often took care of the dogs on board as a leftover tradition from taking care of the livestock when that was more common.
Still, there has been much debate about the true location of the kennels and many believe that they were situated at the base of the fake fourth funnel on the boat deck where the official plans list the 2nd Class Cloak Room (seen left).
Despite the “official” plans indicating the F deck, Harland & Wolff was constantly innovating in their shipbuilding and may have decided to move the passenger's precious dogs to a location that was more featured and closer to the deck where they could be exercised outside.
There is some evidence to support this including comments from survivors on the Carpathia about the kennels being opened on the top deck during the tragedy and an article mentioning dog kennels in the middle deck. Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic has its Kennel located on the boat deck in the post-1912 plans for the boat’s refitting in 1913, it could be possible that it was moved from the F deck or not originally on the Olympic which could support the idea that the Titanic’s kennels were on the boat deck for the first time. This article goes into great depth on the matter, with tons of evidence.