ANIMALS' WELFARE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18577, 8 December 1923, Page 1 (Supplement)

ANIMALS' WELFARE.

A CHARGE ON HUMANITY.

BY ELSIE X. MOBTQN.

Although Aucklanders in general have probably heard very little about it, New Zealand has just completed its first Animals' Welfare Week. It is too early yet to form any opinion as to the benefits which may have 'been derived from the Dominion effort, but it is to be hoped that the organisation for carrying it out has been stronger and more effective in other centres than in Auckland. In this city, there is a strong sentiment of sympathy and kindliness toward animals, but the pity of it is that it —merely sentiment. It lacks expression, because it 1 is not given the strong, fearless lead which alone can convert sentiment into action. Thero is not the general interest nor pubiio spirit with regard to the question of the right treatment of animals that there might be, and in the opinion of many this spirit will not be engendered until there is a live and vigorous society in Auckland which holds as its sole aim and object the welfare of animals, not only in the city, but in the whole of the province. There certainly is a society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, but working jointly as this society does in the interests of women and children, without an office or even a secretary of its own, it is impossible for work on behalf of the animals to be done as it should be done. The duty of the society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is not merely to support an inspector, encourage the writing of school essays and send resolutions to Parliament now and then, but to stir up and vigorously lead public opinion, to constitute itself a committee vigilante, whose influence and activities shall extend from end to end of the province, and whose voice shall sound in no uncertain manner when instances of gross and abominable cruelty are brought to public attention. The local society has done, and is doing, good work, but under a separate organisation whose whole attention and sympathies would be devoted to the one cause, this work could be ex- : tended to a degree unattainable under present conditions. Eecent Gas&; of Cruelty. The argument generally put forward when suggestions such as this are made is that there is very little cruelty to animals !n this country, that people are becoming much kinder and more humane, and thai all they need is a little more education in their "duties toward the animals. It is interesting to note that on the very day that Animals' Welfare Week was inaugurated, there should have been reported from an outlying district of the Auckland province several cases of the maiming of horses by a fiend in human form, while only a few days previously, another of the same ilk was sentenced to imprisonment for mercilessly beating a horse and lighting a fire under it. Within the last few weeks there have been cases reported of revolting cruelty to cows whose tails have been broken by twisting, another in which an Auckland man was fined for cruelly stoning a cow, while sovoral prosecutions have taken place in connection with, the overcrowding of unfortunate birds and beasts on their way to the sales. Does any reasonable person suppose for one moment, however, that these isolated cases represent the sum total of cruelty to animals during the period mentioned? It is obviously impossible for the inspector to be everywhere, and it is probable that the number of cases made public represents merely the comparatively small proportion of evildoers who happen to have been found out in their abominable' practices. * Heed lor Animals' Chatter. The truth of the matter is, that despite the advances that have been made in recent times, the animals have not yet received their chartcr. The animal world is still shamelessly and shamefully exploited for the pleasure and profit of "mar,. The poor shrinking, blindfolded wreck of the picador's horse, wantonly exposed to the torturing horns of the fnfuriated bull; the little birds raised in captivity making their first flight into the blue s only to sink again, a heap of blood-stained feathers; the poor panting hare, blind with agony, pursued by a pack |of yelping hounds till mad with fear it tul-ns and runs back into gaping jaws—these are but a few of the commonest instances of a cruelty that i* accepted almost without comment by some of the " civilised" peoples of to-day. The English tradition, of course, repudiates the devilish cruelty of the bullfight, but it permits a wanton cruelty to the birds of the air and the small beasts j of the fields that other countries have now i discarded. The shooting of live pigeons, iof hares, we are told,'is "sport. ' s This, jwe are sincerely asked to believe, ja the ; ! kind of thin? that has laid the founaa- | tion of the British character, this slaugttjter of defenceless creatures has taught *men to be strong and brave and chival- ; reus! - It might well have been hoped j that these things would not have been j perpetuated in a new young land, but the old traditions have prevailed, and "to the ] Dominion' shame and despite the earnest : efforts of men in high office, it still tolerates practices of cruelty that have been : abolished in more enlightened lands. I Another matter which might well be I given the support of public opinion is that |of the de-horning of cattle. From time to 'time instances of injury to animals crowded into cattle trucks are made public, the main point emphasised being the damage done to beef and hide. The suffering caused to the unfortunate animals is great, however, and it is most sincerely to be hoped that the suggestions put forward in connection witli compulsory de-horning, with the necessary safeguards to meet the case of pedigree stock, will soon be put into effect. Fear of Punishment. With regard to the more serious aspect of deliberate ill-treatment of animals, ' there is only one thing which will serve to deter" cruel and thoughtless men from ; their evil doing—the fear of punishment. : So long as magistrates content themselves with imposing a fine, just so long will cases of flagrant cruelty continue. It is pood to know, that at least one New Zealand magistrate has lately had the courage and humanity to send a human torturer of animals to prison for three months; a few more such sentences woufd do more than all the appeals and protests ever uttered! It' is no use talking of " educating " brute-beasts who maim"and stone and blind and burn the poor defenceless creatures who work for them. , There is a lot of mis-placed senTiment and pity and shocked protest whenever the suggestion is put forward that a man should be flogged for the torture of animals, but unfortunately not much of this sentiment is extended to the helpless victim. A man may flog and belabour some poor, straining horse with an iron chain, may brutally kick it, mav ride it to death and spur jit till its torn sides stream with blood and sweat, may break it in body and spirit in a score of cruel wavs—and he is lot off with a paltry fine' When one thinks of all the sum total of the cruel exploitation, the pain, the ' neglect, the needless sufferings inflicted on the animal kingdom by those appointed j the guardians of the lesser creatures, one can but marvel that the public conscience lean still so easily tolerate these . things. A vast and ever increasing number of men and women see the things that* need righting, but legal enforcement of the animals' charter still lags. i Cod did not. give His lesser creauives [voices to tell of their suffering, perhaps j because He wished human hearts to nnicken the more readily to their need. But He gave to horses and dogs and hares and deer eyes that are the windows of the soul, and the eyes of those speechless ones, when dim with agony and reproach, are the saddest things in all Cod's world, their voiceless condemnation the strongest indictment which humanity will some day have to face at the Bar of Eternal | Justice.