FODDER FOR ZOO.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 160, 8 July 1937, Page 19

FODDER FOR ZOO.

COMPLAINT ABOUT HORSE. DENIAL BY CURATOR. "It is with a. ead heart I write of the cruel sights to be seen in our streets,' , writes "Animal Lover"' in a letter to the editor. "The other day I saw a poor, broken down horse, lamp in j a front leg , , which was badly .swollen, | hoof split and its poor head bent with | pain. It was being trotted up Khyber Pass, led by a man on a bicycle. I questioned the man and he <sai<l it a brood mare which had become so badly lamed lie had neither time nor money to treat it, so he hnd brought it from Mangere and was taking it to the zoo. It wae then throe o'clock and he lwd to deliver it at four o'clock, killinjz time. If the poor creature reached there I very much doubt. This faithful, patient orcatnre had to trot 12 miles lame and in jiain to its doom, and the owner's lament war! that he was to receive only £1 in payment for the horse delivered alive to the zoo. I understand that lions prefer their meat still quivering: and warm." In «. long letter the correspondent asked whether it »a« a frequent occurrence for discarded animals from any distances "to be coerced to the zoo when they are in a totally unfit condition to travel." Fed on Cow Beef. Colonel E. R. Sawer. curator of the Koo. said this morning that no horse had been delivered to the zoo from anywhere near Manjrere for about three months. The carnivora were fed mostly on cow beef from Westfield. '"Horses are scarce, and we seldom have one offf red in these days of mechanical transport," he ?oid. "On an average we may buy one a month. The practice is for* the zoo authorities to send for any lame animal that the owner wishes to dispose of. We send a truck and a man with a humane killer. The horse is slaughtered in the paddock or stable and the cercase brought to Auckland. Occasionally a horse is brought in without prior advice. We pay £1 or £1 10/ for it and kill it humanely and feed it to the lions and other meat-eating animals.

"The reference to the animals being fed with meat 'all quivering and warm' is all bunkum,"' he continued. "The fact of the metter is that any killing that is done takes place in the morning, and the meat is not fed to the animals until the afternoon. Feeding time is between 1.30 and 3 o'clock, and these animals are only fed once a day. However, once an animal is killed, it would not matter whether the lions had it warm or cold."

Mr. -T. .T. Hollingsworth, inspector for the S.P.C.A., said to-day that he had not received any report concerning cruelty to a horse being taken to the zoo. It was the duty of the public to report any cases of cruelty, and the society would at once investigate. As far as the correspondent's letter was concerned," he suggested that if the horse were in such a deplorable state at least half a dozen police officers who would have beeu passed would have taken action.