The Law of Unintended Consequences

Posted byslingsbybrowningPosted inUncategorized

In the early days of the 1665 plague in London, the Lord Mayor got it into his head that cats and dogs were the cause, and ordered that as many as possible be destroyed. The unintended consequence was an explosion in the population of rats, which by way of their fleas were the real culprit, and a marked increase in the rate of plague infection.

Here in Whitehorse, the local Council now requires pet owners to keep their cats and dogs in at night, and whilst I have not seen any increase in the local native wild-life, which was the laudable intention of the regulation, there does appear to be a significant increase in the local population of rats—-the same unintended consequence that the Lord Mayor of London experienced in 1665! I hope that Yersinia pestis does not make its presence felt here.

 

Published by slingsbybrowning

Born and educated in England, Slingsby Browning worked in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries before migrating to Melbourne, Australia, early in the 1970s. Working for a few years as a microbiologist, Slingsby then changed career and moved in to tertiary education management and administration, closely associated with medical education and research, where he remained until the turn of the century. At this time, Slingsby left full-time employment and worked as a consultant for few years before embarking on a very full and active retirement. His hobbies and pass-times include, but are not limited to, cooking, reading (mostly books by or about 19th century authors), music (both playing and listening), fly fishing and golf.

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