THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1932. ANIMAL WELFARE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21784, 25 October 1932, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1932. ANIMAL WELFARE.

The motives which have moved the Otago Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to hold an Animal Welfare Week are without doubt such as commend themselves to the vast majority of people who give the matter a thought. Most people are fond of animals in a greater or less degree, and that amiable trait of character may engender among humans a sympathy which no other chord can touch. Not flattering is the general estimate of the man who is known to detest animals and to be capable of wanton cruelty towards them. Few men have the hardihood to confess such a feeling towards the creatures that surround and are largely dependent upon us. That such individuals exist in the community is unfortunately revealed in their acts, hence the necessity for organised effort for the prevention and punishment of deeds that outrage humanity. In respect of the treatment of animals and all the harmless creatures that are so much a part of the world in which we live—whether indispensable to human purpose and well-being, or adding beauty and colour to existence, or lending a companionship and interest that are charming to contem-plate—-a section of the human race truly needs educating. Lack of sympathy with dumb animals, manifesting itself in forms of cruelty, is sometimes in evidence among the young. Therefore boys and girls in whom consideration for animals has not been instilled by parental precept and example must be taught the lesson of kindness towards them, and made to understand that the lad who is prompted by compassion to rescue a drowning kitten, flung into a pond by his fellows, has mastered an essential principle of all that is comprehended in what we term chivalry. Towards those whose attitude to animals is hopelessly unsympathetic and callous no quarter can be conceded. The dogpoisoner, the " sportsman " who shoots native birds, the marksman who asks no more congenial test of his prowess than the opportunity of eclipsing his rivals in the slaughter of fluttering pigeons or sparrows as they are released from traps, the man who uses barbarously the horses who serve him so patiently or the dog that guards his boundary—these and many others give the real impulse, little as they seem to recognise it, to the institution of movements for the extension of a protective hand to our friends of the animal kingdom. In many ways the inventions of man have made existence more difficult for dumb creatures. The homing pigeon finds a new peril in aerial wires, and there is danger on the highways. So much the more need exists, therefore, for assertion of the humanitarian spirit. Could boys and girls all see the wonderful war memorial at Edinburgh they would read in it a great lesson in sympathy, for by the sculptor not the most insignificant creature that assisted the" soldier's labour in the field or gave him welcome company in the dismal trenches and dugouts has been forgotten. In a recent broadcast address the president of the Otago Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals emphasised the point that British legislation is much more comprehensive and progressive than our own in the matter of providing protection for animals. It is difficult to understand why it should be so, and there can be no good reason why a comparison should remain unfavourable to this Dominion. Perhaps the explanation lies in the conclusion, towards which the visitor to the Old Country will find his observations impelling him, that there exists among the people there a wider, more timehonoured sympathy with dumb creatures than obtains.in this newer, and, in some respects, more ruthless land. In the very heart of London feathered creation is everywhere in evidence and shows no fear. Nature may be red in tooth and claw, but the part of man as a reasoning being should be to show kindness to animals wherever he can, and to spare them unnecessary suffering at all times. For Animal Welfare Week one of our great poets has supplied the appropriate admonition : Never to blend our pleasure or our pride With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels.