ANIMAL PROTECTION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1603, 21 November 1912, Page 3

ANIMAL PROTECTION.

S.P.C.A. ANNUAL MEETING. iU?PEALS FOR PUBLIC SUPPORT. EXTENDED ACTIVITIES PROPOSED. Tho annual meeting of the Society for the Prevention of. Cruelty to Animals wns held in tho Oddfellows' Hall last evening, ■Mr. If. IT. Webb presiding over nil. attendance of about thirty members. Apologies for unavoidable absence were received from tho Hon. A. L. Hcrdnnan, the Rev. J. R. ClasFon, and Messrs. W. "Watson, and J. S. Jameson. Sieving tho adoption of. tho annual report (already summarised in Tire DOMINION), Jl'r. Webb recalled tho fact that at a meeting hold on November 10, 1803, and presided, over by the Hon. (then Mr.) 11. 1). Bell; it was decided to re-establish tho society. Ho could not find any earlier record of its activities in Wellington. Sinco Ififfl tho society had continued its work steadily and quietly. Tho support accorded it had fluctuated, possibly becauso insufficient publicity was Riven to its work. While lie was Kralcful to the newspapers he had found that* l in tho earlier days of this society's work the newspapers had given very much better reports that they did at present. In the earlier reports a summary of tho cases reported on by the inspector seemed to have been piven almost invariably and consequently the actual operations of. the society lvere brought very much moro prominently under tho notico'of tho public. Tho society was a volunteer organisation, and its operations were very greatly restricted for want of funds. Only with difficulty could the society pay its inspector tho very inadequate salary that he received. There-• was great need, Jlr. Weblj continued, for a largo number of regular subscriptions. The amounts need'not bo large. Occasional donations wero welcome, but regular contributions wero very necessary, in order that tho society might have nn assured revenue. The Assistance of Children. He would like to secure the co-operation' of school-children and boy scouts. To get this assistance it was necessary that a lecturer should go round and deliver short, bright, and interesting addresses to . children. If they got the children interested, it went without saying that tho parents would follow. Some work of the kind appeared to have been attempted in the, early days of the- society, but it had .not been carried through—ha supposed 'owing to a lack of resources. A bazaar in aid of. tho society was to bs held at Lower Hntt on December 6. He would like to seo k similar efforts made elsewhere. The supporters of the society might further assist it by taking small halls occasionally, and delivering lectnrettes upon its work and aims. A Proposed Horse Show. It would lie a very good thing to interest the expressmen, cabmen, and carriers of Wellington in the work of tho society. A movement might be inaugurated similar to that inaugurated by the Earl of .Shaftesbury anions the London costermongers.' Being struck with pity at the state of many of the costermongers' donkeys, the Earl of Shaftesbury got up a show, and gave prizes to the owners of the best-cared for donkeys. The result was a marvellous improvement in the condition of these animals. He saw no reason why something - of the same kind should not be done here for . the benefit of horses. If the seryices of an additional inspector were available ho could be usefully .employed' in organising ' .a "movement "ot this kind. Tho public ivould bo horrified if'they had the revolting details of cases of.cruelty to horses which came, before the society. A point to be observed was that it .was tho aim of the society to instruct and educate the public, and not'to.punish offenders. The .society should not be called upon to pro•secut'o,' '" This., should .be done .by. the police, but to a largo extent was not. ) ■ 'A , Ridiculous Licensing System. V . Mr. Webb referred briefly to the system followed by the Wellington City Council ,in licensing- certain vehicles to., carry., a 'certain load. The animal that had to draw the load was not licensed) and as a result miserable weeds of horses wero compelled to do the work that only big strong horses were fit for. He would like to see branch societies set up in tho suburbs. Even if they acted as outposts of the main society these bodies could render valuable assistance. All these operations wero mninly'a matter of funds. A Useful Work. Mr. J. G. W. Aitken said that he was not aware that the society had been reestablished in 1893. He had no recollection of its having existed in. Wellington prior to that year. Tho society had done, during-the twenty years of v its existence here, an exceedingly useful work, and its work could not be altogether gathered from the number of prosecutions of people who hod been cruel to animals. The moral effect of such an institution as this went a very long way to prevent cruelty to auiinaU.- In the early days of tho society cruelty to animals was common. Thero were still a considerable number of eases of cruolty, but he did not think that the number had increased. It had to be remembered that population had doubled since.the society came into existence. In Mr. Seed the society had a capable, "alert, and efficient '■officer, whose strong love of'animals enabled him to intuitively detect cases of cruelty. Good results had been attained in past years by instructing children in regard, to the proper treatment of animals, and the practice of delivering lectures to children might very well be revived. ''* The report was adopted without further discussion. ' Mr. Aitken nominated the officers for the ensuing'year. Mr. .V. R. Meredith spoke briefly in seconding tho nomination of tho officebearers. Ho said that' surprising apathy was sbown by the general public towards the good work in which the society was engaged. This apathy could only be explained on the ground of general ignorance of the amount of cruelty to animals that existed, v The annual report of the society showed that 337 cases of. cruelty had been dealt with last year. He agreed that the society had a great moral, effeet. If its scope could.be, widened its moral influence would be proportionately., strengthened. The police could not pos-' sibly deal with all the cases of cruelty that occurred, because many of these cases . occurred in private places which 'were not visited by the police in the ordinary course of their duty. Practically the whole of the rotirinK officers were re-elected. Mr. T. D. Kendall retired from the committee, and Mr. •C. H. Seville and Mr. Lewis were added to, its menibership. Before members dispersed Mr. W. 0. CJninuell, M.R.C.V.S., delivered an interesting leoturetto upon the causes and conditions that contribute to the ill-treat-ment of horses.

Tlie oldest voter in London Is Miss Mary Paul, aged 101, who lives in a i,om■fortable ■ flat at Bonaparte Mansions, ■ Westbourne Grove. A succession claim - was made and upheld in her behalf in the Kensington Revision Court recently. Miss, Paul was born in India on March 4, 1811. ■ Her father was General Thomas Henry Paul, an officer in the East India Company's service, while lier only brother, also an officer, was killed during the Indian Mutiny. She lias lived during tlio reigii of sis rulers of the Empire. . i COUGH-COUGH.