CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS. WELLINGTON'S BALANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 307, 24 December 1912, Page 9

CARRIAGE OF ANIMALS.

WELLINGTON'S BALANCE.

ALLEGED ILL-TREATMENT. "This is probably one of the mosl important cases that the society has undertaken." said Mr. V. R. Meredith at the Magistrate's Court in Wellington, when opening a case on behaJf of the Society for Prevmtion of Cruelly to Animals, in which A. J. Cooper, stock agent, of Masterton. was charged with causing to be conveyed from Masterton to Ngahauranga certain cattle in such .1 manner, or position, as to subject them to unnecessary pain or suffering. The society, said Mr. Meredith, was trying to slop the practice of trucking "canners" — old cattle which were driven in from country farms and railed away to be slaughtered for canning purposes. The animals which formed t-he subject of the charge were in such a condition as to handle them in any way, let alone trucking them, was cruelty. T. V. Caverhill. stock buyer for Dymock and Co.. was proceeded against on a similar charge to that of Cooper's. CONDITION OF TUE ANIMAUS.

William Geo. Taylor, a State veterin- i arian, deposed that he examined the __.nimals, twenty-one in number, at Ngaliau- I ranga. on October 31, and fotuid them to be in an extremely poor condition, i The following day he examined them more closely, and condemned all but two, which might have passed for canning. One of the animals was practically dying, and he ordered it to be killed first- The others were extremely emaciated, which he should say would be due to shortage of feed in the winter, and old age. Never before had he seen such a collection ot poor animals. They had very little flesh, and the bones were very prominent. A post-mortem examination revealed that six were greatly emaciated, nine had suffered from tubercle, four had had septic metritis, and two others were much emaciated. One animal had cancer of the eye. It was hard to tell the ages, but one or two were betiyecn twelve and fourteen years old. Two had only two teeth left in their mouths, another had no teeth at all. and the others all had bad mouths. Old age was the cause iof this. On a number of the cattle the hair had come off in patches. They ivpre not in a tit condition to be travelled, jas they would be i-aused distress or | suffering. The best way in which to ■ send them on a railway journey woulft 'I be to put three or four in a truck with ■ plenty of straw, or pack them fairly tight I Whichever means were adopted would • ! entail suffering, but the better way would !i be to pack them tight.

•THE MOST HUMANE WAY." For the defence, Mr. A. W. Blair contended that there was no case to answer. The evidence ior the prosecution had all gone one way—that the cattle were carried in a proper position, and in a proper manner. Tbe manner of carrying the. cattle was the most homane way which could be adopted. Cnder the statute there was no such offence as "causing to be conveyed cattle in such a condition as to cause them unnecessary suf fering." The wording was in such a man- i ncr or position. It could not be suggested that there was anything inhuman in the i method of trucking the cattle. The legislature evidently had not provided the necessary machinery to meet a case like the present. Defendant stated that the ruling price for "canned beeF had recently been about £2 5. The sum of £2 10/ or £2 10/6 per head was paid for the i cattle under notice. There were three oi I four which were only worth boiling down. The animals were bought on the morn ing of October 29. Caverhill, Dymock's agent, gave witness instructions to raU I the cattle to Wellington, and the neces =iry arrangements were made. Th 3 night before the cattle were Trucked away they were kept in the usual kind of railway yard, with water. Caverhill. who bought the catlie. stated that they were an average line of "canners.'" He had no idea that they wouid i suffer on the railway journey. On Mr. Meredith's application the in formation against Caverhill was amended to >-cad "cruelly illtreated by causing to be conveyed." en.-. His Worship reserved his decision, and the- hearing of a charge of overdriving the cattle, preferred against M. McCaiima. v*« adjouraed.

MAYOR OK CITY IT-NANCE. ! (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, this day. "The finances of Wellington city for 1912 will." stated the Mayor (Mr D. McLaren) "show a satisfactory result when the final figures are made up. Our special expenditure of a non-recurring character, snch a.s a tl.ooo contribution to the National Art GaHery fund and the building of the successful fish marked., has totalled nearly £4,0.00, but the year ■will end with a balance on the right side.*' Mr McLaren quotes laitest figures of a general nature to show tihe city's position: Capital values £IS,__2S._.S4. unimproved values £9,991,484. value of improvements £N,236.(100. The total _us.se'.-> of the corporation, not including reserves, amount to £3,068.670. The public debt of ithe city amounts to £2.272.0.*>0. (.he sinking fund at prcse-nt stands ai £231,178, the depreciation fund of the tramways is shown as £87,500, and the depreciation fund of the electric lighting stands at £29,540. "With io the tramways, which has heen a matter of serious concern to those having charge of this important business, in which is sunk over half a million of capilal. I am glad to be able to say that we hnvc gol over the stage of having a deflck, and the last return presented lome shows that even with the increased chargrs we have had to meet this year we have now a credit ■balance of £1.950." concludes the Mayor.