AN APPEAL FOR THE HORSE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 114, 12 May 1909, Page 7

AN APPEAL FOR THE HORSE.

The following, issued as a leaflet by the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, should be read by all who have to do with the noble animal the horse:— A HORSE'S APPEAL. "To, the drivers and owners of carriages, carts, etc. "Man—God made you. He also made me; and He also recommended me to your mercy. I wish to serve you and. obey your will, and to love you, too, if you will let me. Do not, therefore, break my heart with illtreatment. I have intelligence, memory, affection, and gratitude; only Ido not know how to speak. I want to understand you and do your j bidding, but I am so often terrified by you that I no longer know what you want me to do, nor why you punish me. Often lam full of pains from blows you give me; my mouth and teeth ache with the hard bit which you incessantly tug at as if it were a bell rope. lam old, and have become so lame from years of hammering away upon the hard metal that 1 can't easily put my foot to the ground; yet I must still run. up and down hill, over the stony roads, all day in a burning heat or a cutting south wind, over-laden. My collar frequently works a sore upon my shoulder—look at that wound that goes nearly to the bone—and when it presses upon me, if I falter, instead of looking to it, or easing me, you cut me with your whip. I willingly, even in my old age, struggle my utmost to do your work, yet often,, when I am broken down, you take no further thought for me than to turn me out upon a common to die from starvation. God has made me a nervous animal, and when you call upon, me I strain every muscle. But often you overwork me and ill-use me so that 1 become faint and ill, and then you curse me for a sorry brute, when it is you that have made me so! I come home quite knocked up with hunger, thirst, and fatigue, full of pain and misery; and then my feed is poor and old and scant, and I often cannot get rest for the next day's struggle. It you do not care for me as I wish you would, only think of this: that if you treat me well I will do more work for you, and last you much longer, and so you will make more out of me m the end. And think of another thing: You also have a Master. You are as much in His power as I am in yours, and you will want mercy from Him one day. Can you fairly ask it if you show none to me?— Signed respectfully by a Broken-down Horse, in the name of all the ill-treated horses."