KILLING CATS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20668, 13 September 1930, Page 14

KILLING CATS.

Sir, —If a c.'it could choose the manner in which it should be sent io the happy hunting-ground, in all probability it would choose old ago. Life is sweet, even to the most miserable of creatures, and when it is necessary and unavoidable to perform this unpleasant duty it should bo done as painlessly and cleanly as possible. A sick animal can bo cured and I have saved many cats and dogs from the lethal chamber in England, but in (ho case of incurable disease, and to those who will not take the trouble of attending a curable one, may I suggest the use of chloroform. There are several drugs of the materia medica which would ensure a painless and speedy despatch, but an ounce of. chloroform on a sponge or disli and placed with the cat in a small airtight box is as efficacious as any I know. The universal method of drowning is to be deplored; we do not Fee what is going on in the sack under the water. True, it is far less trouble to take a swing at it with the axe, decapitate it or throw it under a steam roller, and the agony is soon over—sometimes; but such methods will not improve our humane tendencies. Eric Shortridge.

Sir, —It is a great pity that when a magistrate has the courage to convict and fine a man for cruelty, even to a straycat, there should be so much critic--ism of his action. Tho writers of the various letters that have appeared in this column under the above heading, and all those others who have refrained from writing, may be assured that there is not the slightest danger of any wave of sentimentalism sweeping over our magis- . tracv! In most cases the penalties for cruelty to animals are woefully inadequate." More sympathy is extended to the man who starves, thrashes, or otherwise illtreats animals than to the unfortunate victims themselves. I do not wish to enter into any discussion as to cat-killing methods, but seeing that reference has been made more than once to the "gallant officer" and gentleman who wielded tho axe, one cannot help wondering if there would have been the same criticism of the magistrate's action had the offender been plain Bill Boggs, watersider? Friend of the Strats.