ARMY HORSES' FATE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17097, 28 February 1919, Page 6

ARMY HORSES' FATE.

WAR WORK COMPLETED.

760,000 TO BE SOLD.

If anyone is in nee,d of a horse there will be ample opportunities of seeming one at a reasonable figure during the coming months, says a London paper. The army authorities have three-quarters of a million to dispose of. and the first hatch of 25,000 were to have come into ths market for sale by the end of January. After that sales will be held at regular intervals all over Great Britain.

In order to get an even distribution over the country, thero will bo sales in the larger towns up to 100, and in tho smaller towns up to 25, so that there will be brought back to the doors of the peoplo horses to replace those tosen for the war. Major-General Birkbeck, Director of Be. mounts, had some interesting facts to tell about the demobilisation of the horses. At the outbreak of the war, he said, the army 19,000 horses, but the Remount Department had worked so well that the Expeditionary Force left England horeed as no army had ever been horsed before. In America they bought and shipped 700,000 animals, with a loss of a little over 1 per cent, from sickness, and of 2 per cent, where enemy action was included.

j Our horse strength in France had ini creased from 90,000 in September, 1914, to 460,000 in July, 1917. The disposal. of the horses was a very serious problem..'. It was estimated that of our animals now in France 27 per cent, were sound ana under eight years of age, 44 per cent, between nine and 12 years,* and 19 per cent. were either over 12 years or unsound. A considerable number would be wanted for tho army of occupation, but they would come home eventually. At present plans had been made to repatriate a great many and distribute them for sale all over Great Britain. The Belgian Government was being provided with 50,000 animals to ai?sist in reconstruction, and the devastated districts of France would no doubt take many more. In the last four years they had taken from Great Britain 17 per cent, of its working-horse population, and they were ready to put that number back if required. Only the best class of horses were to la. brought back from France— was, tho pick of the horses which were sovnd and under 12 years of age. There was an unaccountable prejudice against mules in England. Major-General i Birkbeck pointed out. At present they had about 10,000 in England, many of. which they wanted to sell but.people did not seem inclined to buy. The mule vas an economic animal, which did not eat so much, and for every horse that went sick less than half a mule was sick. In the eastern theatres of war they had 100,000 horses and mules to be disposed of. It was a problem which had three alternatives—repatriation, destruction, or sale. Repatriation was out of the question, as every ship was wanted to brins food and material to the country, while 100,000 horses would fake 6ome destroying unlets they took them out into the desert and shot £5,000,000 worth and left their creases to be eaten by vultures. That left no alternative to sale. The instruction was that animals in eastern ■ threatTes should be disposed of " by sale or otherwise." Commanding officers tad been instructed to use a liberal discretion in destroying animals, especially those of British origin, for which good homes could not be found on the spot.