CARE OF DOGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 44, 22 February 1937, Page 5

CARE OF DOGS.

ECHO OF CRITICISM.

CUSTOMS IN ENGLAND. / CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS. Opinions on the treatment of New Zealand sheep dogs from correspondents to the "Star," following the comment of an English visitor, Captain J. E. M. Bradish-Ellames, vary considerably. Captain Bradish-Ellames, in a published letter, said he was shocked at the method of feeding and the kennel management favoured by a large number of New Zealand sheep dog- owners. Support for the comments of the English visitor conies from a correspondent who signs himself "Old Shepherd." He writes:—-"As an old shepherd, I beg to support all that Captain BradishEllames says, but why did he not report cases of cruelty that he actually saw t» the police or to the S.P.C.A., and appear at Court as a witness? I feel sure that if the matter was placed before station owners and sheep farmers better shelter would be provided for the dogs and better food given them. "After all," concludes "Old Shepherd," "it is the dogs who do the work, ancfc they are entitled to proper treatment. If shepherds are ignorant on the handling of their dogs they need to be educated as well as the dogs. I hope this matter- will be taken up by the S.P.C.A. throughout the Dominion." English Decadence. In direct opposition to the accusations of Captain Bradish-Ellames are the views of another correspondent, "Out .on the Range," who says: "If there is one thing more than another that seems to indicate a streak of decadence in England, it is the general mollycoddling of dogs almost to the extent of turning beautiful homes and castles into 'doggerii ■%.' Last year I stayed at one

country home in England where two big Labrador retrievers —large, handsome dogs—were actually kept in barrel kennels in a room on the same floor as the guests. The dogs ranged through the house. A maid and man were kept Jtp look after the animals, which were always clean, but it offended my colonial tastes to see table dishes, containing left-over food from supper, being placed on the floor for the dogs to clean up. That was a regular practice.

"I objected inwardly to these dogs being taken everywhere in the back seat of the car. In another part of England, in one of the oldest castles, the titled owrier received me in a study containing not less than 30 small English terriers, and after taken round the grpunds with these yelping little 'beasties,' I was entertained to afternoon tea with ladies present —when a dozen of the 'better behaved' dogs were admitted by the noble host. Cakes and sandwiches were freely fed to the dogs by the host. "Grunts for Womenfolk." "Many of the dogs so favoured were not iso well-behaved, as the face of the 'Jeeveslike' butler testified. This is only one side of the unhealthy and unhygienic attachment of Englishmen toj dogs in their homes. One American writer recently asserted that many i Englishmen thought more of their dogs than their wives; and had only grunts and monosyllables for their womenfolk, but would chat volubly with their dumb animals. The reason given was that dogs to the Englishman were the perfect 'yes men.' "The pampering of poodle dogs by English women, who are mostly childless, and the nuifeance created on footpaths and promenades, also puzzles colonials who prefer the refreshing, outdoor treatment of the collie and other working dogs in New Zealand to the nursing of dogs, instead of children, as is noticed in many of the homes in England to-day."

Further support for the views of! Captain Bradish-Ellames is contained in " n " Cr roiu a woman correspondent, 1 .G. She says she has been in New Zealand for two years, and is saddened and often horrified at the way ume people treat their dogs. At farms where she had stayed in England the doge were wen cared for, and she had looked for-ward-to her first visit to a New Zealand farm. She was sadly disillusioned, she [said.

"Horrified." "The starved appearance of the dogs horrified me," she writes. "I had never seen such thin dogs. Their condition was poor and their feet bleeding from the rough country where they worked. They were fed on skim milk, and when a sheep was killed—which was not often —they were fed with entrails. That was all. When we had our meals the dogs gathered outside our window, walking up and down whining until the food I wa« eating nearly choked me. I was glad to leave. I have not visited another farm." Many cases of neglect had been brought to her notice, continued "A.G." She had seen people go on their holidays and leave dogs unprovided for. She recounted a story of an Auckland family who owned a Scotch terrier. One day, influenced by other dogs, it chased some sheep, and while the other dogs ran away this pet stopped when its name was called, and was beaten to death by a man. "That such a thing could happen in a white country makes my blood boil," concluded the correspondent. "Six months' hard labour would be too light a sentence for such an inhuman deed."