RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31053, 7 May 1966, Page 44

RANDOM REMINDER

DOG FIGHT

There is a house in Masterton which would appear, on the surface, to be the property of one of those extraordinary gentlemen who eke out a living by accepting and later selling a variety of goods accumulated by other gentlemen who remove the pieces from their proper places without advising the owners of what they are about. We are referring, of course, to professional fences. The accumulation of worldly goods belonging to others is a source of much embarrassment to the householders, who have a large, friendly, Labrador cross dog called Roily; and Roily insists on bringing home anything he can carry.

Things have reached such a state that Roily’s owners have had to advertise in the local newspaper, advising people in the district that if they have lost anything, Roily has probably stolen it. The collection includes such diverse items as dolls, boots, bails, brushes, pieces of firewood, clothing and cushions. Roily is only six months old, and the downward path has been steep. The first hint of criminal tendencies came with his habit of bringing in the morning paper for his owners: but it was the neighbour's morning paper. Now it is a full time occupation for Roily collecting the booty, and for the

owners, trying to identify and return it. There will be some, of course, who will envy these Masterton people, and wish they had a dog they could train to acquire useful items for household use. It might make an interesting legal argument: can a man be held responsible for the activities of a dog suffering from kleptomania? No doubt those Christchurch fences able to read will all blame their dogs now, when the detectives call. And that will bring in the S.P.C.A. It might develop into quite a diverting situation. One hopes so, for it would offer the people of Christchurch something to take their minds of the road through Hagley Park.