When Speed Streak Tried to Turn Hamsters into Toys

“Absolutely horrified.” That’s how Bea Rose, director of the Dade and Broward Friends of Animals organization in South Florida, described her reaction to one of the most controversial toys of the 1985 holiday season. Dubbed Speed Streak, it was a mini race car roughly a foot in length. Instead of being powered by batteries or operated via remote control, the driving compartment consisted of a tiny treadmill encased in a bubble. Inside was one hamster—sold separately—that jogged in place, providing energy to make the racer move.

“Your pet is the driver,” read the box. “Runs on one hamster power.”

This attempt to make tiny Lewis Hamiltons out of rodents outraged animal welfare advocates, who insisted the device might fatigue, frighten, or injure their drivers. Developed as an innocuous plaything, it sparked questions over what constitutes free will in all living creatures. Were hamsters having fun, or were they merely puppets in a dystopian children’s game?

Rodent Rage

Hamsters have long been regarded as a kind of “starter pet” en route to dogs and cats. Originally native to Syria, they were exported as pets beginning in the 1930s, and though there are 24 known species, only about five are commonly sold as domestic animals: Roborovski (or Robo) hamsters, Syrian hamsters, Chinese hamsters, Russian dwarf winter white hamsters, and Campbell’s dwarf hamsters. Their name comes from the German word hamstern, meaning “to hoard.” These pets can be cute, but their behaviors can also be alarming: Some mothers will eat their babies.

Despite the morbidity, the tiny creatures are popular. They can easily be corralled in a cage, and a hamster wheel often provides exercise—and because their lifespan is between 1.5 to 3 years, they’re also not a huge commitment.

One major manufacturer of hamster accessories was a company called Living World. Their Habitrail brand was home to all sorts of hamster must-haves, including the treadmills. In 1976, they marketed a line of Hamster Express racers, including cars with names like Speed Streak and Wildfire. (The name of the line was eventually simplified to Speed Streak.) By placing a hamster inside the enclosed cabin of the toy, it could locomote on the wheel and thus move the vehicle.

Habitrail suggested that kids could make the hamsters competitive. “What fun for kids when they actually race Speed Streak against Wildfire,” one ad read. Habitrail also suggested the hamsters could keep busy for hours, but testing had demonstrated that sessions of 30 minutes were ideal. Once they got tired, the company explained, the hamsters could simply doze off inside the wheel.

Fun for kids, but was it fun for the hamsters? Animal rights supporters weren’t so sure. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) dubbed Speed Streaks “torture toys” and began petitioning Congressional leaders to encourage the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which typically handles safety concerns over consumer products, to take them off the market.

“We are asking the federal government to review these products and get them off the market because they teach cruelty rather than humanity to animals,” ASPCA executive director Duncan Wright said in a statement. He suggested that the hamsters could be injured while “driving,” particularly if kids opted to race them down a hill or if children threw or kicked them. Wright also said parents had called the ASPCA to complain about the car.

The ASPCA’s calls to action were not effective. The Speed Streak continued to be sold in 1977 and beyond. In Vancouver, two mayoral candidates even used them in a friendly race. But these modest protests would eventually reach the ears of a more sympathetic party: a giraffe.

Putting It in Park

In 1985, a fresh wave of criticism enveloped the Speed Streak. In addition to protests from the Dade and Broward Friends of Animals in Florida, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in London also lobbed accusations of possible injustice to the creatures. The Royal Society observed that hamsters could not enter and exit the driver’s cab of their own free will; they might be terrified if dogs and cats began chasing after them. Worse, they might be sealed inside, only to have a child lose interest and forget about them.

This time, action was taken. Following the controversy, Toys ‘R Us, then the country’s largest toy store chain, announced they would be removing the Speed Streak from all of its 233 locations.

“There has never been any indication of an animal being injured by the toy, but we work closely with the Product Safety Commission and had them check it out,” Toys ‘R Us spokesperson Morinda Christopher told United Press International. “They agreed there could be potential problems.”

Christopher also threw some slight shade at the racer, adding the Speed Streak “has never been a significant seller anyway.”

But Speed Streak proved a stubborn rival for animal welfare proponents. Living World sold off the Habitrail brand to Rolf C. Hagen Inc. in 1987. In 1988, Calgary hosted the Great Hamster Race World Championships. Sponsored by Hagen, Hallmark Pets, and Calgary-area pet shops, the race saw up to five hamsters at a time speeding down a custom track in Speed Streak vehicles. A similar race came under fire in Vancouver when animal advocates expressed concern the hamsters might be given performance-enhancing drugs to be more energetic. Like fears over the hamsters getting harmed in the cars, this appeared to be more theoretical than fact-based. There was no evidence anyone was doping hamsters.

In 1991, following another round of criticism, Hagen products specialist Rich Thompson claimed that millions of Speed Streaks had been sold and that the device was safe if used properly. More importantly, Thompson added, the Speed Streak was no longer being marketed as a toy. It was only sold in pet stores.

The Speed Streak continued being advertised at least through 2001, the same year the car got some attention in the press for its use in hamster races in London. Horse racing, a popular gambling attraction, was briefly waylaid by equine illness (foot-and-mouth disease), and bettors wanted the action. In 2004, Habitrail sponsored a race in Rockledge, Florida: A hamster named Nutmeg won.

Today, Habitrail’s website makes no mention of the race car. (They do offer a cardboard truck that, according to Habitrail, can satiate a hamster’s need to chew.) Another pet product company, Kaytee, markets a Critter Cruiser that operates in a similar fashion to the Speed Streak.

No hamster-related injuries were ever reported in the press, but the controversy may have kept similar products off shelves, including another Habitrail product floated in the 1970s: a hamster-powered locomotive.

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