Clothing Naked Animals

A bogus organization in the mid 1900's campaigned to clothe naked dogs and other animals for the sake of decency.

A Dog in Boxer Shorts
appeared in an article with instructions on how to make the boxers

In 1959, comedian and prankster Alan Abel created a hoax about an organization called the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals (SINA). Using the language of conservative moralists opposed to the changes in postwar society, he argued that 'naked' animals, including pets, farm animals and those in zoos, were scandalous and needed to be clothed. Abel employed actor Buck Henry to play the organization's president, G. Clifford Prout, who gave interviews in television news and talk shows.

Supporters marching in front of the White House

The organization was taken seriously, and SINA actually acquired over 50,000 members. According to Abel, "It was outrageous - the people around the country really seriously believe that this campaign to clothe naked animals was justified..." Some even contributed large sums of money (including a $40,000 check), which was returned to prevent being charged with fraud by accepting donations for a bogus charity.

The hoax was finally exposed in 1962 when a staff member recognized Buck Henry while giving an interview as Prout by Walter Cronkite. "When Cronkite eventually found out that he’d been conned, and I was the guy behind it, he called me up. I’d never heard him that angry on TV—not about Hitler, Saddam Hussein, or Fidel Castro. He was furious with me," said Abel.

In 1963, Time magazine formally exposed the hoax, and Abel revealed the true message of his operation: SINA wasn’t just a hoax — it was a commentary on the state of affairs in America. "I had no interest in actually putting shorts on horses, or mumus on cows. SINA was a satirical riff on censorship: it mocked the moral maniacs who were banning films, books, records, and plays during that time period."

Susan B. Anthony, the Women's Suffrage Movement & a Dog

Susan B. Anthony, a leading force in the women's suffrage movement (the right for women to vote), was said by the media to have owned a Skye terrier dog (which she didn't) - an absurd way of trying to belittle her and her work.

Women's Suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony, born in 1820, grew up in a politically active family who took part in the abolitionist movement (to end slavery). When she was denied a chance to speak at a convention because of her being a female, she was inspired to shift her focus on women's rights. She realized that women would never be taken seriously in politics unless they had the right to vote. According to her, "There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers." She spent many years campaigning around the country to convince others to support a woman's right to vote, and in 1869, she and her good friend Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association. In 1872, she was arrested for illegally voting in the presidential election and was fined $100, a fine she never paid.

According to the book The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 2 of 2) by Ida Husted Harper, a reporter of the Chicago News stated:

"Susan B. Anthony has never condescended to love a man but she lavishes a heap of affection on a little gray Skye terrier which she takes around with her wherever she goes. This dog was given her by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and having recently lost a favorite Newfoundland pet, she accepted the frolicsome Skye with hearty gratitude. She has taught the apt brute every variety of trick and its intelligence seems to be unlimited. The little creature sleeps on her bed, eats from her hand, has blankets, gold and silver collars and every kind of ornament and comfort. Miss Anthony is accompanied by this accomplished canine everywhere, and during the recent convention in Washington "Birdie," as the dog is called, occupied a prominent place on the platform, either cuddled up in her voluminous lap or coiled in a frowsy heap at her feet."

Many newspapers throughout the country copied this information and some would add disapproving comments like how every woman must have something to love and are too frivolous to have the right to vote. The New York Graphic wrote:

"There is something wrong here. If Miss Anthony were to carry around with her a Newfoundland or a good bloodhound the spectacle would have nothing incongruous in it. If she would make a pet of a six-barrelled revolver and another of a large club that would be appropriate. But a Skye terrier, a miserable, little, whining pup, a coached, coddled and coaxed dog making repeated journeys in a basket and fed on crackers and milk—what sort of a thing is this for a person of reformative powers to be associated with? It is an argument in favor of woman's rights that women are capable of all the masculinity necessary to voting and the making of laws; but who ever heard of a President, a senator, a member of the House of Representatives, a legislator of any kind, going about with a sick dog in his arms, soothing the little wretch into its proper sleep, providing it with its regular nourishment and superintending its morning awakenings and the accompanying ablutions?

"Women can never come to the head of the government, can never assist to a large extent in its management, until they reform these weaknesses. It isn't necessary that they should chew tobacco and swear, and perhaps they needn't smoke cigars and drive fast horses; but their leaders must abandon the pet dog, the favorite kitten, the especial hen and the abominable bird. They may still sew and still wear the petticoat; but if they enter politics they must submit to the hard raps that men expect, without putting their hands to their eyes and sobbing that their feelings have been hurt. There must be reform, and Miss Anthony and Mrs. Stanton must set about it in earnest and at once.

"A Skye terrier for Miss Anthony! Merciful heavens! after all these years has it come to this? Catnip for Julius Caesar! Boneset tea and black stockings with garters for Alexander the Great! A locket with hair in it on the bosom of the first Napoleon! A Skye terrier! We have fallen upon evil days."

In her scrapbook, beneath this writing, Anthony wrote "Doesn't this cap the climax?" She never owned a dog or any other kind of pet, not because she didn't like animals, she just felt her work needed all her time and affection.

Susan B. Anthony never married. She devoted her life to the women's suffrage movement, and unfortunately passed away in 1906 - 14 years before women were given the right to vote.