When dogs cannot put a paw right

Press, 23 February 1977, Page 19

When dogs cannot put a paw right

By KEVIN McMENAMIN The Case Against Dogs." TVl’s documentary cn Monday, was put so convincingly that man’s supposed best friend was hardly left with a paw to stand on. His only salvation. it would seem, lies in a dramatic improvement in his toilet habits. The Thames production was useful in drawing attention to a little-known, but potentially dangerous, disease that children can contract by handling soil contaminated with dog drooping- The conservative medical estimate that one in every 20 ch’ldren are affected was reason enough for concern. But while it might have been a documentary with a message to impart, it hardly made for pleasant viewing. Countless shots of defecating dogs and even more showing closeups of their excrement did net heighten interest in a late supper. It was a little surprising to find the commentator, having apparently exhausted his supply of “nice " words to describe a cannes bodily functions, twice resort to a much cruder four-letter word to relate what the programme was nearly ail about.

He at least picked the first occasion well, doubling the impact by relating that 66 tons of it falls on London every day. No wonder Nelson is perched so high on his column; he only has pigeons to worry about. What dogs needed so far as the programme was concerned was an advocate, one who could well have blunted the blow of this mind-boggling revelation by reminding the jury that there were only two public dog lavatories for London’s estimated dog population of one million. In addition, he might also have pointed out that nature has decreed that when a dog wants to go, he goes. A slight diversion was a look at the work of the New’ Orleans S.P.C.A. and how it was trying to reduce the number of the city’s stray dogs. Here again the footage was not particularly endearing, but it added some bark to a show that never quickened much beyond poodle pace. It was a B night for “Dateline Monday” as it endeavoured to report briefly on baby bashings and then more extensively on beer, breweries and the barons who run them. Unfortunately the first item was knocked out

early because of technical hitches and the second was not helped by the refusal of the breweries to come to the party. Neverthe'ss, Simon Walker managed to present a very full and informative report on the state of the New Zealand brewing industry, even if it was, in essence, “A Case Against D. B. and N.Z. Breweries.” At least, the breweries, unlike the dogs, were given the opportunity to defend themselves. "Dateline Monday” has still to prove itself on the current affairs front and the most immediate task might be to relax the front-man, lan Fraser. He was detectably ill at ease on Monday and a change to a sedentary position could help his confidence. The comedy “Second Time Round” underwent a small miracle on Monday. For the first 10 minutes its -heavy-handed point, counter-point theme was nothing more than a pain. But then when the action switched to the girl’s home the show suddenly took off. Most of the credit must go to Rosemary Martin for the delectable way she played the thoroughlvmodern mother, Molly.