Genetically Engineered Mini Rhino
On the 22nd of August, 1872, the Fort Wayne Daily Sentinel printed the following opinion about the supposedly numbered days of dogs and cats as pets:
"Dogs have nearly had their day, and so have cats. The household pets of the future will be snakes. To be sure, their introduction will meet with opposition, but prejudice will soon wear away. A Mr. Mann, an English music teacher, has been arrested for keeping snakes loose about his house, and allowing them to crawl into the domiciles of his neighbors. Upon the trial it was shown that Mr. Mann's two little children play with and fondle a young Brazilian boa, and Mr. Mann himself asserted that "these creatures are becoming sought after as pets by many private persons, so that it is difficult to buy one at all now."' The spectacle of a Fifth Avenue belle sweeping down Broadway, leading a pet snake by a silk cord fastened to a silver-plated collar, will be the next sensation."
While the writer's prediction never came to fruition, it's safe to say that the sight of a "Fifth Avenue belle" toting Bergdorf's bags and leading her fancy-collared snake by a silk leash on the streets of Manhattan would, indeed, be a sensation.
Read this article at Gizmodo's Paleofuture to learn about more strange pet predictions of the past, from mini rhinos to robotic dogs to miniature horses.
Image Credit: The Kids' Whole Future Catalog, Random House, 1982