Lady Munnings, wife of the Royal Academy's former President, Sir Alfred Munnings, demanded: “Instead of dogs, why not use child murderers, who just get life sentences and have a jolly good time in prison?"Īs protesting dog lovers massed outside the Russian Embassy in London, First Secretary Yuri Modin was forced to make a statement. The League Against Cruel Sports expressed "horror and contempt" for the behaviour of the Russians "beside which the sickening stories of the inhuman cruelties of the Middle Ages fade into insignificance."Īnd as the protests grew, the National Canine Defence League appealed for one minute of silence across the country at 11am every day. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was also threatened with telephonic meltdown until a quick-thinking employee told callers to "make your protest direct to the Soviet embassy” – and gave out the number.
The BBC’s switchboard was jammed by irate callers even before an announcer had finished reading the news bulletin of the event. It also paved the way for furious protest across the world, nowhere more so than in Britain. The launch was designed to show that a living passenger could survive being thrust into orbit and endure micro-gravity, paving the way for space travel by humans. One of the technicians preparing her capsule said that "after placing Laika in the container and before closing the hatch, we kissed her nose and wished her bon voyage, knowing that she would not survive the flight." At the time there was no technology – or plans – to bring her back to Earth. Laika was a stray that had been picked up on the streets of Moscow.
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