ON BEHALF OF ANIMALS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 32, 8 February 1928, Page 6

ON BEHALF OF ANIMALS.

(By F. B. FORESTER.)

Every now and then, a chance line or paragraph m a paper, it may be, serves to show that despite the best efforts of the S.P.C.A., there is still a vast amount of thoughtless, if not deliberate cruelty throughout the length and breadth of the land. If this is not so, why do for eontinually of dogs kept on the chain for days, of cats and dogs wilfully left in empty houses, or without water and food, of horses overloaded, or left standing for hours on the ih' r e r^ ocked cmvs > over-driven sheep, pigs scalded with boiling water while still living— but why add to the list? Enough to say that the cruelty is there, a„d it £ the dTty o every citizen to do his bit to help the society that is doing its level best to put this cruelty down, and to help those who cannot speak for themselves. It is to be feared that in the backblocks, and in places beyond the reach of the society a inspectors, there is still a great amount »V"' . 110t ' Vhy did " 01d S P° rt >" the bUr, describe an act of sickening crueltv, the cutting oil of the hams from a and living wild pig? Or the case of the plrtv / C 7 t,y from an expedition into 1 back c o i "'tr.V. In some valley there they came acioss a bluid horse, a living skeleton. They commented on it, pitied it, and yet not one 'anion? them cared enough to sec that a merciful bullet put the unfortunate creature out of its misery. Like the priest and Levite, in the parable they passed by 011 the other side. '

The question of cruelty in sport is a wide one b„ t the fact that it is exercising the 'J ? 1 Vtoplc at Home is a hopeful sign of the times. One high church dignitary there has even been called to order, for attending an opening meet; and another, in defending a sport so deeply rooted in English customs, excuses it on the ground that he believed it conveyed much hc"iido?sabsurVl? S ; f,, any statement be more absurd? It is probable that, were the reverend bv a WL CO f "T lled tG run for his lifc < chased by a pack of hungry- wolves, his idea of eniovfW f W °i considcrab ly altered. But it seems that fox, hunting is a sport too dear to Englishmen entfv r ™»«! y J' Ut ♦1° wn ' a,ld those who think differ+W for tl,e present, take what comfort novelg- lll "Tj.f.i°' U Sayin ® of Scott ' s ' one of his killed" m ° ny a tod hunted tl,at ' s no

A good many truly kind-hearted folk are concerned about the cruelty at the Zoo, as they tcim it; that is, the inhumanity of keeping wild animals captive, bringing them from their native haunts to be shut up behind bars or railings, as the case may be. Granting, at the outset, that the principle is wrong, the detail* seem to involve no cruelty. There is a vast deal more pity called for by the unfortunate do<~ chained in back yards to filthy and never-cleaned kennels, swarming with vermin, ill supplied with food and water, than ever need be spent on the well-fed and cared-for animals at the Zoo. Let me here urge all dog owners to see that their dog is let off the chain at least once each dar enough to allow him to str«*rf<Phis legs, "and to obtain the grass so necessary to his health, and, in the hot days before us, to sec that a plentiful 1 supply of fresh water is always within his reach.