STRANGE RESULTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 282, 28 November 1925, Page 36

STRANGE RESULTS.

MOTOR TRAFFIC CONGESTION.

LICENSING OF CATS DEMANDED.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

LONDON, October 28.

The congestion of motor traffic is leading us into strange byways—one of fthem the proposal in Edinburgh to license oats.

Nobody can deny that the presence 'of cats and dogs in the streets leads ito danger to motorists and with him to the pedestrians among whom he must steer his way.

In Edinburgh the duties of policemen, especially in regard to the increasing, street traffic, have recently led to demands for an increase of staff, and the suggested new addition to their burden is not likely to be viewed with favour by authorities from a financial point of view.

The question is also made more difficult .by the fact *hat Edinburgh's recently-extended boundaries include a large farming area. ' Eat campaigns have been periodically promoted, and the farmer's best assistant in keeping down rats is the cat. Cats under such circumstances bring up their progeny in. outbuildings and elsewhere, and the licensing of the young animals would add to the farmers' already numerous difficulties.

The problem of keeping dogs and eats in Edinburgh itself is complicated •too hy the flat system. A large majority of Edinburgh people live in three or four-storey tenements, with common and restricted ground at the back. In spite of these difficulties the city is noted for its large number of cats and dogs. The dogs are usually well looked after, but cats are often left to shift for themselves in holiday times. How licensing would 1 abate this evil is not too clear, but the supposition is that anyone taking the trouble to take out a license would be sufficiently interested in his cat to look after it properly. The risk of keeping cats without a license would probably lead to the Teadier and more general dispatch of kittens.

The Prevention of Cruelty Society fiave at present in Edinburgh two uniformed women whose sole duty is to (collect stray cats dbout the streets and backyards.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals last year dealt with 4862 unwanted cats. More than half were homeless and the majority were diseased. This year the fejociety have already destroyed 13091 cat_, stray, diseased and unwanted. It.is for that reason tite Edinburgh Town Council are considering a proposal that all cats in their area should be licensed. The proposal is that licenses should be required for keeping cats, and that a. 'fee of one shilling should be charged for each cat. Any person keeping a cat without a license would'be subject to prosecution, and police officers would be empowered to seize stray cats.