SHARE:
ENGLAND: In a courtyard of Stafford Castle, amid the bones of cats and dogs from the late 19th century, was a lone tortoise bone—the first evidence of one of the small reptiles being kept as a pet. Prior to the 17th century, keeping pets for anything other than practical reasons was considered morally suspect in England. Fondness for household animals developed later, and by the 20th century thousands of land tortoises were shipped into the country wholesale. They ultimately became so popular that they were given away as prizes at fairs.
