Cruella de Vil him that the purchaser of a house in Piccadilly, London is "a foreign nobleman, Count De Ville". Count De Ville, however, proves to be an alias for Count Dracula himself. It is also believed that the inspiration for the name began in 1939 when Dodie Smith purchased a new Rolls-Royce 25/30 "Sedanca de Ville" motorcar in which she and her pet Dalmatian "Pongo" frequently travelled, which also formed the basis of the cartoon imagery of Cruella's own motorcar. In the original story, Cruella is depicted as a pampered and glamorous London heiress who knows the owner of the Dalmatian puppies
Breed club (dog) research on breed-specific health issues. Breed clubs for agricultural stock breeds became popular social clubs in England in the late 18th century and early 19th century. The first breed club for chickens, for example, was formed in 1815 as an elite and expensive activity. By the mid-19th century, dog shows were becoming a pastime in Victorian England, and the bulldog was a popular pet. In order to make the bulldog breed smaller and more gentle, crossbreeding with pugs and other types of dogs was being done, leading to the formation of the first breed club, the Bulldog Club, in 1864,