THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3384, 22 January 1919, Page 46

THE KENNEL.

Bi Tuiiaofi.

and breeders of dogs are cordially ta» fited to contribute to this column. "Terror" win •n&e&vour to make this department as Interesting aad up-to-date as possible, but In order to do this bo must bare the 00-operation of his readers, henoe he trusts this Invitation will b* aaeeriuMy «#pond««l tor

The special correspondent of the Edin burgh Scotsman, writing of the joy in Arniens when the Allies arrived, speaks with keen appreciation of the Australians' love for their animal allies in the great •war. He remarked that this deep affection for animals is typical of all the Australians, and is a pleasant little touch of character greatly admired by their French and British allies. He says: "An example of Australian kindliness to animals came up •luring a. visit I made to one of the brigade

headquarters. Here was a rather savagelooking clog, black and tan, suggesting both the collie and the Alaskan. It was threatened, coaxed, and cajoled into silence by a stalwart Australian in his shirt sleeves as wo entered. The dog was German, and was known'as 'Bertha.' It had been found in one of the German trenches after the Germans had been hurriedly expelled. Its German masters had trained it to carry messages, and it was an animal of exceptional intelligence. For the Australian captain who had found it and made himself its sponsor, it showed an extraordinary affection. At the time of our visit the captain was away; and the stalwart Australian, who was acting as cook, explained that the dog was rather in low spirits, and would remain go until his return. It slept in the captain's shelter, and anyone who intruded in that sanctuary during the- night risked his life. A curious trait of this animal was its respect for the officer's uniform. Any officer approaching headquarters was respectfully received by the dog, but to a private he showed an implacable hostility. The dog had imbibed the German discipline. The cook, however was an exception to the general rule, and, as he himself explained, the reason was obvious. It is not often that national characteristics are so definitely communicated to dumb animals."

The Wanganui Show having been abandoned, a parade was held in its place, and I am indebted to a correspondent for the following particulars:—The winner was Mr E. Murray's ch. Rambling Katie (English setter). Auckland; Mr Leversedge's Papanui Swell (cocker), Christchurch, second; and Mr Geo. Bitcliff's ch. Wairiki Warrior (Airedale). Christchurch, third. A biff combined parade is to be held at Wellington in February by the combined fanciers in association. The judges are Mrs Crompton, Poms and Pekingese; Miss Richardson, Australian terriers and Sydney silkies; Mr Makin, terriers and other sportin:? dosjs; Mr H. Crompton, bulldogs and all" other breeds; Mr Peroy Smith, winners of winntrs' class. Great enthusiasm is being evinced in the parade, which promises to be a great success. .Mr S. Rastall is secretary. —Mr F. House, of Wellington, has recently purchased the whole of the Pomeranians ov.ned by Mrs H. Crompton, of the Remuera kennels. These comprise about 16 dogs, including the imported Bleak House Don and Remuera Gold, and a number of imported bitches. Mrs House has now one of the largest Pomeranian kennels in Australasia. Mr and Mrs Crompton intend going in for Pekingese, and have recently landed a good braoe from England—a red dog and a sable bitch.

an Australian' writer) impossibte for tho sporting man in whatever position circumstances may place him, to refrain from following his hobby. I find that the interned British soldier in Holland "ran" a sporting paper. In Mesopotamia the regiments did the same thing, and at Salonika the Balkans News is issued in British garb, giving all sorts of tit-bits of sporting news. One of these is on " Stray Dogs." Th© paragraph is of some interest: "The stray dogs of Salonika have an interest all their own. Their breed is probably the most thoroughly mixed in the world, ranging from the terrier-Pome-ranian to the collie-wolf. Their survival is a credit to themselves if a nuisance to everyone else. The decision to rid the town of them was taken many, many years ago, but although their numbers have been thinned they, still remain as a class. Under the Turkish regime, the Turks regarding the killing of a dog as an act of sacrilege, large numbers of them were shipped to the islands—but not enough—or to the peninsula of Chalcidico, but from there they came back. When the Greeks became masters of Salonika they decided that tho dogs were a menace to the public health, and would have to be destroyed. Every known means was tried to slaughter them, including the use of poisoned pellets concealed in food, but the dogs stayed on. They have the peouliar characteristic of the scavenger dogs of Eastern cities, in that they have divided themselves into groups, each group having its own district. A dog from another group is allowed to pass through a district other than his own, but if he should dare to tarry the native dogs of the district attack him en masse." The Divisional Court (England) had recently to decide whether a man could bo convicted of cruelty to a dog for omitting to release a dog from a trap in which it was suffering pain. The dog in question is described as large and fierce, and the man was afraid to handle it by himself, and it was two hours before the police, whom he called, were on the spot and able to extricate" the dog. Ohaunel, J., in his judgment said: "Where there is a definite duty to do a thing, and there is an omission to do it, then I think one might say, although it would be rather straining the words even then, that the not doing that which there is a positive duty to do, amounts to cruelly ill-treating. . . . Now, if one comes back to the present case, it is true the magistrates in giving an opinion about it have used some rather hard words about this man, but the facts that they have found show that they, in finding in the way they have done, and saying that two hours were taken before the poor animal was released, are a "bit hard upon him. The very first thing he did was to do the best thing he possiblv oould. . . He was not quite so quick as he might have been; although he did himself take active steps, which, in fact, caused the release of this animal, ho did not do it so quickly as he might have done. That is the most that can ho said about it. To my mind it is a perversion of language to say that he caused the ill-treat-ment." The other two judges—the Lord Chief Jusiice and Lord Ooleridgo, # J.— took a much wider view of the circumstances in which a man who sees suffering ccing on is bound to put a stop to it. The Lord Chief Justice, in his judgment, said: " Whero the act is not a direct act of commission, it does seem to me that when bv his lawful act the defendant has unfortunately caused an animal excessive pain, end he alone can put an end to that pain, thei' the maqristratcs may consider whether or not he did his best to put the animal out of pain." The case was sent; back by the court for further consideration by the magistrates, with an expressed opinion of the court that if they thought tho arinal was kept for a considerable part of two hours in pain in •vhich it need not hava been kept had the farmer done his best to get assistance, they -would be justified in convicting him. It has not yet been decided, and it is a nice point which may yet appear, as to whether a person ■who finds on his premises an animal which has oeen wounded or caught in a trap

and has wandered there, can be made responsible for cruelty. No doubt there is a humane and moral duty in such cases to put a stop to the suffering, but whether this moral duty will ever become a legal duty is extremely doubtful. To extend the doctrine of crueity by omission any further might lead to complications, and in many cases might work a serious injustice. The following comments on judges and judging taken from the Twentieth Century Dog are not without interest: " No individual judge should be allowed to judge a particular breed more than twice in a j ear. To be consistent he must repeat himself, and his views are known. The judge is the most important and responsible person connected with the show ring. He has no jury to assist or control his actions, and ho is fallible. The rule against speaking to a judge in'' the ring should be enforced. The judge should not know the name of the dog he is judging or of its owner. It is a mistake for owners to lead their dogs into the ring; in some cases it is not the dog but the other end of the lead that is judged. All dogs should be brought into the ring by disinterested parties. I cannot help but think that in dog-judging there is a good deal in Avhom the dog belongs to. It is undesirable that dealers and professional exhibitors should judge A judge should be chosen for his ability and 'integrity. Judges should judge according to the recognised standai-d of the tvpe of breed, and not according to their own ideas. I should like to see three judges in the ring instead of one, for judging is too much a matter of individual taste. Judges who give obviously bad decisons should be hauled up before the ruling body to explain them, and if their explanation is unsatisfactory they should be disqualified from further judging. No officials, especially ring stewards, should handle a dog shown in the ring. A judge who gets 'catalogue' information from a ring steward should be disqualified; no catalogue should be allowed in the ring during judging. There certainly should be no combing or brushing once the dogs have entered the ring. There are too many amateur judges. A judge of a dog, like the judge of a horse, is born, rot made. Many a man is afraid of offending a friend. _ Others desire to please all the exhibitors. Such judges should not enter the ring. It is the man who tries to please all exhibitors who brings himself universal condemnation > for a weak-kneed performance. Judging rings should be kept more strictly, and no exhibitor should address a judge about his exhibit. Judges ought periodically to attend olub meetings and imbibe a review of the points laid down by clubs."