NEGLECTED ANIMALS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19884, 10 March 1939, Page 4

NEGLECTED ANIMALS

COWS IN BARE PADDOCKS ‘STARVING ON THEIR FEET’ FOWLS LACK GREEN FOOD “I have come back from the country rather disgusted with the state of things I have witnessed- on small farms, both in the Wairarapa and the Manawatu,” said Mr. R. A. Nicol, inspector for the Wellington Society lor the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “I have seen small paddocks with two, three, or four cows in them, with every vestige of grass burned up, leaving no food at all for the cows.

“Not only this, but these farmers, who should more than anyone else be aware of the situation, are neglecting to feed the animals otherwise, so that they are gradually starving to death. The poor beasts may be able to pick up a little sustenance from dried-up tufts of grass, but that is only prolonging their agony. These people should be made to feed their cows on hay or bran, or get rid of them.

“If they won’t do one thing or the other, the society must take action, as the cows are starving on their feet. I assume that these cows are getting some water, but as all water in the country has now to be carried I have my doubts. A cow in milk requires from 15 to 20 gallons of water a day. “Then there are poultry farmers in the country with from 1000 to 4000 hens, which I am pretty sure are not getting any green feed during this spell of warm weather,” continued Mr. Nicol. “Ten or 12 fowls will eat a whole cabbage in a day, and be all the better for it, but in the fowl-runs I inspected while I was away I never saw one vestige of green food. If you see the yolk of an egg very pale in colour you will know that the layer has been starved for green food. Poultry farmers should know that the health of their charges depends a good deal on them getting the right kind of foed, and getting it regularly.