300 PETS FROM RHINELALD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIII, Issue 3075, 5 November 1929, Page 3

300 PETS FROM RHINELALD.

INCIDENTS OF THE EVACUATION Great preparations were being made at the dogs' and cats' home in Surrey, run by the R.S.P.C.A. for the reception of 300 off the pets which the Rhineland Army was expected to bring home with it. All the animals will have to remain in quarantine for six months as a precaution against rabies and other infectious diseases. They are to be maintained at the expense of the Army, with a nominal charge to their owners of £2 a head. Headkeeper Brown showed me proudly over what is really a wonderfully establishment, occupying, nearly 14 acres of ground, approached by a drive that might belong to a country gentleman's estate (writes a Daily News reporter). He has been here 20 years. "The dogs will soon settle down and be happy," he prophesied. Cats are more difficult to manage, and many of the soldiers will be bringing cats. Cats do not seem to miss their human friends, but are apt to worry and brood when shut up in a strange place, even when the place is what Mr. Brown calls "the best cattery in the world." The kennels, or rather cubicles, measuring Bft 6in by 4ft 6in, are being especially enclosed in one-inch wire mesh, ,so that no animal can come in contact with another. Each cat's kennel has an open-air section •attached, and there are 50 separate exercise grounds for the dogs. There is also a bathroom, with hot and cold water laid on. . It will take 15 stones of meat (principally beef) per week to make the soup in which the Rhineland Army's dogs will have their broken biscuit soaked. Stewed meat and soaked biscuit will be mixed together in the proportion of one part meat to three of biscuits. The cats will gel milk and fish.

"We have had 3000 boarders during the summer holidays this year, and only lost one," said Mr. Brown. Officers of the R.S.P.C.A. will meet the first batch of pets at Dover and see that they are placed in crates of suitable size—from "pom" to Alsatian. They will then travel by road. Transport and board and lodging for six months will cost on an average, £l2 for each dog or cat.