Cats frolicking in the spring sun bring a smile to any face and the baby octopus on my pizza on Saturday night was very tasty. Yes, whatever storms rage on this site about the class nature of China or who did wrong to whom in Respect we can take it for granted that we all like animals in a wide range of contexts.

Some people go a bit further.

No! Not like that!

Slinking off to the pub during the speeches at Saturday’s demo I tripped across the memorial to animals that “that served, suffered and died alongside the British, Commonwealth and Allied forces in the wars and conflicts of the 20th century”. It’s hardly inconspicuous but I’ve always managed to miss it.

As a piece of public architecture it’s striking – with bas reliefs of camels, elephants, pigeons, dogs, goats and horses and statues of mules and horses. It sums up the creatures’ plight by reminding us in capital letters that “they had no choice”.  Though the idea that pigeons were likely to be arguing that World War One was being fought for the freedom of small nations against the goats who correctly understood that the only correct attitude was revolutionary defeatism in the inter-imperialist clash should not be excluded out of hand. You would not want to be accused of speciesism. However since the people behind the memorial assert that the British animals had no choice it seems a bit mean-spirited to avoid mention of the animals pressed into service to fight against the British.

Big monuments beside Hyde Park don’t come cheap. If you are planning something similar you will need to find at least £2 million. Regular readers of this site The Duke of Westminster KG OBE TD DL, The Rt Hon the Earl of Cadogan, DL and Rt Hon The Lord Ballyedmond OBE made handsome donations.

The centre of London is littered with statues honouring murdering imperialists and counter revolutionaries like Nelson, Kitchener and ones you’ve never heard of. Celebration of wars of conquest and imperial repression is a major part of the ideology of official Britain. New Labour loves it and have initiated this provocative custom of having troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan march through town centres to whip up a chauvinist support for the wars.

Lovely as it is the Animals in War memorial does exactly the same thing with the added twist that it emphasises a phony eccentric British love of animals of which the rest of humanity is apparently incapable. The donors’ list is proof of that. Search as you might you will not find in London a statue to anyone tortured or murdered by the British army in Aden, Malaysia or anywhere else. Now that would be quirky and lovably eccentric.

The other photo shows a First World War Belgian machine gun unit. The indecent scoundrels used dogs to pull their weapons.