CRUELTY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 99, 20 January 1908, Page 2

CRUELTY.

SOME DEFINITIONS DISCUSSED. {) r MR. SEED'S VIEWS. K •' What is cruelty? To a farmer .who hfttiSlaJ =;• i • many animals the question'is one tbat; slvfay?" \ - bears a technical interest. .Generally/Ppe>K- .-. .v. mg, cruelty may bo defined as' anything-.th»t ' iniliots sufferings without proper- causo.' ?Tbore #re oustomary s performed' upon young bull calves'.and' the young nwlcs.iof p, sheep, pigs, horses, etc., that inflict suffering,, but which are by most pcoplo regarded: 8# • justified by the end in view. : Wo were discussing reppptly with Mr! Seed, tlip .-.Wellington Inspector of tho, Society,'for the Provontion of ' Cruelty to ' Animals, ; .tbo". ' validity—from his point of. view-7-of spaying.- .: Mr. Seed, wb.ose experience of the .operation has boon, chiefly confined to pigs,- said that ■; ■ it was usually performed With such celerity,.', and the object desired was so reasonable,' . tlinfc it could not be classed-among acts •of . cruelty. Tho operation took no-longer than that performed on-males, ocbupying less-than -. ■ • a minuto, so that tho. suffering inflicted wan• relatively small. Very much, of course/ d<v-, ponds son the > skill -. and • 'knowledge of ■ the -: ■ operator. The. oporation by a clumsy .novice i could scarcely escape being olasscd as cruelty, . besides ..risking the lives of the animals. ?. . ■ •• ; 'Mr.- Seed-has a much greater bbjeotion;to docking, particularly. when done on matured r> animals. ,To nip off the ends of puppies' tails and tho;tails of-young Jambs is not, ho- -, mwnts, at all. a painful.process, and in the.'.: easo of the lambs there is-a- reasonable pur- . poso served. ■ But tho dodking of horses he regards with ■ considerable > abhorrence. There 1 j*is not only tho cruelty of ■tho"actual opera-. ; tion, the shock to.tho animal. and tbe.Bubse- . quont festering and suffering and fly?worry- ■ ■ mg during .the protraated; healing,. but for vi the rest: of life, tho horse is robbed of its . natural and only defence against' the .torTi : ■ ments of flies tho hot weather, : A docked < horso in a paddock in bad fly weather 15 a very sorry animal; often ■ unable to graze owing-to tho annoyance endured. from-the .' littlo pests. On tho other hand, a horso with . a . long,: well-haired tail secures tolerable peace. Tho object of tho docking is to save; :. . slight annoyanco to. the owner from tho long .tail, and-to give the horse an chubbiness: in the : hind quarters. ■ is. a; • practice which, in the case of horses, Mr. Seed will traco out to the offenders in every possible case. . Dehorning, again, lie condemns. He fujly allows for. the fact, that hornod cattle.inflict . iiijury. upon ono /another 7 , in such , confined • spaces as railway trucks, but, that is to hira . ' nil utterly inadequato compensation for the prolonged misery ondured by cattle after de- . The festering roots of the horns, ' ■ themselves obviously tho seat of much agony, . , attract flies, which, iiv some cases . where ; , proper protection is not afforded, drive, the poor beasts almost mad. ' Dehorning, in his opinion, should bo done in infanoy or notat all. . . . • ' i Overstocking in some of its aspects'-is also, classed as cruclty/and Mr. Seed is.beginning •to form ideas-about visiting country districts in times of food-shortage. -At present-, how- . ■ ever, tho city of Wellington itself appears to, bo fully taxing-his resources. 1 ■ ' :