The Bravest Pets of Gotham
308 pages, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2
10 color and 31 B-W images
Hardcover
Release Date:13 Sep 2024
ISBN:9781978839892
The Bravest Pets of Gotham
Tales of Four-Legged Firefighters of Old New York
By Peggy Gavan
Rutgers University Press
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the New York Fire Department permitted firemen to keep one dog, one cat, or singing birds in their firehouse. Since the firemen were required to live and work at the firehouse full-time, these animal mascots—along with the horses that pulled the fire trucks—were their constant companions, making a dangerous workplace feel more like home.
The Bravest Pets of Gotham takes readers on a fun historical tour of Old New York, sharing touching and comical stories about the bond between FDNY firefighters and their four-legged or feathered friends. The book contains more than one hundred astonishing, emotional, and sometimes hilariously absurd tales of the FDNY animal mascots whose extraordinary intelligence, acts of bravery, and funny antics deserve to be remembered. Some anecdotes depict fire companies that broke the one-pet rule and welcomed a veritable menagerie of animals into their firehouses, including goats, turtles, and even monkeys. Whether you are an animal lover, a history buff, or a fan of firefighting, The Bravest Pets of Gotham is full of stories that will thrill and amuse you.
The Bravest Pets of Gotham takes readers on a fun historical tour of Old New York, sharing touching and comical stories about the bond between FDNY firefighters and their four-legged or feathered friends. The book contains more than one hundred astonishing, emotional, and sometimes hilariously absurd tales of the FDNY animal mascots whose extraordinary intelligence, acts of bravery, and funny antics deserve to be remembered. Some anecdotes depict fire companies that broke the one-pet rule and welcomed a veritable menagerie of animals into their firehouses, including goats, turtles, and even monkeys. Whether you are an animal lover, a history buff, or a fan of firefighting, The Bravest Pets of Gotham is full of stories that will thrill and amuse you.
The Bravest Pets of Gotham is outstanding. This saga of FDNY firefighters and their amazing pets is well researched and a joy to read. The horses, dogs, cats, and monkeys were as brave and faithful, for the most part, as their heroic human caretakers. I highly recommend this book.
While the celebration of brotherhood and the connection between man and machine of the fire service has been widely covered for generations, Peggy Gavan’s The Bravest Pets of Gotham is a body of work that stands alone. Remarkably researched, her stories provide both inspiring and informative confirmation of the bond between the men and animals who so valiantly served the FDNY. Without question, Gavan’s book is a must-have for the library of any fire buff, historian, or animal lover.
PEGGY GAVAN is an editor and volunteer firefighter in Warwick, New York. She is the author of the award-winning The Cat Men of Gotham: Tales of Feline Friendships in Old New York (Rutgers University Press) and the blog Hatching Cat NYC: True and Unusual Animal Tales of Old New York.
Introduction
Chapter 1: Fire Horses
Chapter 2: Fire Dogs
Chapter 3: Fire Cats
Chapter 4: Monkey Mascots
Chapter 5: Happy Families and Best Friends
Chapter 6: Lifesaving Horses and Mascots
Chapter 7: Line-of-Duty Deaths
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
