From the TLS review of The Tower Menagerie by Gaden S. Robinson:

"In 1822, the first legislation was passed outlawing such cruelty, and two years later the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA, later RSPCA) was founded, securing 149 convictions in its first year. It is remarkable that this was Britain’s first law-enforcement agency, antedating the Metropolitan Police by five years, and even more remarkable that animal- welfare legislation preceded by a decade that restricting child labour and abolishing slavery."

Clichéed, but true. Yet it marches hand in hand with the long history of animals in captivity. Hardly the indicator of a history of kindness to fellow birds and beasts.

A review that includes lions, leopards, a polar bear... and not a single raven. Caw!