ALSATIAN DOGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 55, 6 March 1935, Page 6

ALSATIAN DOGS.

During the last week or iso Alsatian dogs have attacked and in one case bitten their unfortunate victim. Both these cases have been reported in the daily papers. These vicious wolf animals should be dealt with, but the Government has so far done nothing to bring in legislation for their suppression. The Hon. C. J. Carrington did his best last session of Parliament to have a law passed making it unlawful to own an Alsatian and to destroy all Alsatians in existence. The legislation would have gone through, but strong pressure was brought- against it from some unknown source, and the bill only passed the first reading, being then hung up, and the : Premier stated that the bill would not come again in any case for a considerable time. It is commonly believed that the dog is entitled to one bite before the owner is liable to prosecution; this is a mistaken idea. I believe it is the law in-England, but in New Zealand the dog is not only debarred from biting, but iii not allowed to rush out and attempt to bite in any unenclosed space. If the Dog Act was properly administered by the magistrates many owners of dogs would have been ordered to destroy them. It might interest sheep owners to know that they are entitled by law to shoot any dog found amongst their sheep even if the dig is not worrying them. This latter information was given to the' Waikato County Council by its solicitors some time ago. In case your readers doubt these statements, I refer them to the New Zealand Dog Act. BOW-BOW.