According to Wikipedia: "The Island of Doctor Moreau is a 1896 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells. When the novel was written in 1896, European society was absorbed with concerns about degeneration, and Britain's scientific community was engulfed by debates on animal vivisection. Interest groups were even formed to tackle the issue: the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection was formed two years after the publication of the novel."