Animal Welfare

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 242, 9 July 1938, Page 13

Animal Welfare

Sir,—New Zealand is definitely a country in which animals bulk to a far greater extent than in the old countries, where industry has taken the .place of agriculture. Why is it, we,'ask ourselves, that there is so much callousness in caring lor sick or injured sheep dogs, cattle, horses, and sheep, and so much, apathy as to their well-being? The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is this year trying to make a great forward move both in their measures to alleviate the sufferings of animals and in their attempt to create a better public opinion. The women’s auxiliary of the society, for which I speak, is already at. work in an attempt to raise funds for .providing an ambulance and clinic for the Wellington district. The main society is, we understand, making its objective the creation of an animal hospital and the .provision, of another veterinary surgeon. It is almost unbelievable that in a large city like Wellington where there are thousands of animals who are family friends, there is no more than one qualified veterinary surgeon. My particular object in writing this letter is to plead for a public recognition of the work that the women’s auxiliary is doing, and to ask for a generous response to the appeal we are making for an ambulance and clinic. We have already got £lOB toward that purpose, but £5OO is needed for the success of the venture. We are attempting also to create a new attitude toward the animal creation. We should like to know that carelessness and cruelty to animals is being regarded not as a very minor offence, but as an offence which deserves the severe punisament with which it meets in the Old Country. We would also appeal to the civic and educational authorities to do all in their power to create in the children of our nation the right attitude toward animals. I myself have seen five dogs and a cat carried from a lethal chamber and thrown into the rubbish cart at 10 a.m., with children watching. How can children learn to love nnd care for dumb animals when they see such things?. In this respect the churches are being invited to take an active part, and it is hoped that on the first Sunday in October, which is within a day or two of the Festival of St. Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint, of all animals, the clergy of all denominations will both speak on this subject nnd also pray for God’s dumb creation. 5Ve are hoping that by this and other means we may achieve something worth while on behalf of animals of all kinds, whom many of us know to t>e our loved and trusted friends. Any donations or inquiries toward this cause will be gladly received by myself as treasurer of the Women's Auxiliary of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.—l am, etc., KATHLEEN B. ROBSON. Wellington, July 8.