THE ALSATIAN DOG

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 94, 15 January 1929, Page 11

THE ALSATIAN DOG

’ Sir,—Your issue of the Sth with Sir Thomas Mackenzie’s letter on the subject of Alsatian dogs has just reached me. Lt’ I suggest that in fairness Sir Thomas should have given the whole of my quotation and not simply the portions that suited him. I also suggest that Sir Thomas should get the date and full particulars of the two instances he quotes and ■ publish the information ' obtained. These two stories have been doing duty for 'three or four years, and it is time that something more recent and more accurate should be published. .So far as the “Englishman” and “English lady” quoted by Sir Thomas are concerned. they are entitled to their opinion, but Sir Thomas has modified the statement he made in Christchurch. There he made the lady say “the only people who favour them are the idle rich and silly girls who have no other thing to occupy their time,” and against this I, point out that there were over 700 entries of Alsatians in the London Dog Show,-among the entrants and owners being H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. Dogs are like human beings—some bad, some fair, but mostly good,, and this classification applies to Alsatians as to other dogs. • If Sir Thomas introduces his Bill into the Legislative Council it certainly will be discussed, but the subject is hardly one of such importance as to warrant the “crossing of swords.” ■

There has also been some correspondence in the Christchurch “Press” on the subject, and the more the matter is dissussed the more the unfairness of the attack on the Alsatian by Sir Thomas is made apparent. —I am, etc., GEORGE J. SMITH. January 10.

Sir, —Considerable correspondence has been passing through your paper conterning Alsatian dogs, some praising, others condemning, "this particular breed. Sir Thomas Mackenzie has told us of numerous incidents of alleged ferocity on the part of these animals, stated to have taken place in England. Mr. W. T. Barton, another correspondent, voices his disapproval of Alsatians in practically-. the tame strain as Sir Thomas Mackenzie. Writing under the nom de plume of “A Lover of Alsatians” in your issue of January 5 I replied to. all Sir Thomas Mackenzie’s objections concerning Alsatians, and I have addressed a few remarks to Mr. W. T. Barton.

It will give me much pleasure to hear what both these gentlemen have to say in reply to my correspondence. The Hon. G. J. Smith, M.L.C., penned an accurate and most informative article to your paper in reply to Sir Thomas Mackenzie’s attacks on Alsatian dogs. The writer of this letter, an experienced owner and lover of these dogs, can- fully endorse all that the Hon. G. J. Smith has had to say in favour of Alsatians. Perhaps the gentlemen'writing in condemnation against Alsatian dogs are unaware that these canines gained favour and prominence in England on account of their excellent services rendered to the Allied and German armies in the humanitarian work of fetching in the wounded, carrying succour to the disabled, all under heavy shell fire. I think I am safe in saying that the Alsatian Red Cross' workers in the war did not devour the patients entrusted to their care. Both Sir Thomas Mackenzie and Mr. W. T. Barton have been quoting English Alsatian atrocities to us, but it would be extremely interesting to hear if these gentlemen or any others can give us one single really reliable instance of any New Zealand Alsatian dog having stooped to such villainy as murder or common assault. Personally the writer’s experience has proved the very opposite to all that has been said in condemnation of Alsatian dogs. Sir Thomas Mackenzie’s statement is not logical, when he states that because a few Alsatians out of many hundreds misbehave themselves, the breed as a whole should be exterminated. Because a man kills another in England this does not necessarily make murderers of New Zealanders.

Mr. W. T. Barton assures us on perfectly good authority that the Alsatian is a wolf, and that by mating with same the third generation threw back to wolf. This is nothing new, as the wolf is in all respects a canine, but undomesticated, and the throw-back is merely nature asserting itself, along well-defined laws of breeding. ...My argument in favour of the Alastian-is this: Let us assume that this" breed ,pf,,dog came originally by cross with a wolf, then the years of domestication by-_man, coupled with environment and companionship with other dogs, and the freedom from constant, inbreeding to wolf would be quite sufficient to give us an everyday domesticated dog. It might be just as well to repeat again that there is absolutely jib reliable evidence to prove that- the Alsatian dog

is really a wolf. Just because some men and monkeys look alike does not necessarily prove that man sprang from a monkey and that Darwin was right. The hunt for the "missing link” is still going on, as also the investigation to prove that Alsatian dogs are really wolves. Mr. W. T. Barton enlightens us as to the docility of his Great Dane dog. Perhaps Mr. Barton and others might be surprised to know that I have on more than one occasion slept alongside my dog, which in size and strength would be just ns powerful and formidable as any Great Dane, bulldog, mastiff. St. Bernard, etc., but although I was dead to the world, unarmed, and at the complete mercy of the alleged man-eating Alsatian dog. the morning light found my ever-faithful friend lying alongside me fully awake, happy and' contented in the companionship of mere man. Again, I ask, where are our slain, where are our wolves, and pray tell us what is the total cost *of damage done to date in New Zealand by Alsatian dogs? These dogs have been resident in New Zealand quite long enough to have displayed their general behaviour. After all, Mr. Editor, the people most fitted to speak about Alsatian dogs are the owners and breeders of such animals.

It is to be hoped that the Government of this country when it desires information regarding these dogs will obtain such on oath from Alsatian owners, breeders and others who know the breed and not be led astray by the inexperienced, who are always ever ready to rush into newspaper discussion, their opinions based on merely what hns been said. Australia introduced Alsatian preventive legislation purely on account of the numerical strength of the dingo (or wild dog) in the land, but not on account of the unsuitability of Alsatian dogs to man’s company. The New Zealand Alsatian Dog Club has been informed of the threatened attack on their harmless and useful fancy, and no doubt they will reply in an official capacity.—l am, etc., *‘A LOVER OF ALSATIANS.” Wellington, January 14.