CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

Southland Times, Issue 19500, 14 March 1925, Page 9

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

To the Editor. Sir,—l notice a lot of correspondence in your paper of late regarding the prevention of cruelty to animals which is really very laudable in spirit, but it appears to me there is a lot of refined and misplaced sentiment about the whole business. As long as birdie sits on high and sings to us and supplies his little daily wants in his natural haunts with no loss or annoyance to his should-be protectors, he must be protected from ail possible harm; but where the hypocrisy of the whole business comes in is when dear and much-loved little birdie cultivates a taste for our grains, fruits and seeds. When this happens all the loving sympathy is thrown aside and the Government is called upon to supply poison to tear their beautiful little bodies asunder in the agonies of death. Children are paid to take their eggs and destroy the little temporary homes so lovingly and beautifully made. I am quite aware that the position is a problem and that something must be done to keep all excessive nuisances in check, but why this sudden outburst of sympathy in one direction for the prevention of cruelty on the one hand and the wholesale painful murder on the other as soon as our pockets are touched ever so little is more than I can understand. Why extend such sympathy on the one hand and less than none on the other.

Take poor Bunny, for instance, who is only trying to five like ourselves, who, because he eats our grass, has the hand and mouth of every living thing against him. His dying squeals from trap and poison are heard on all sides.

In conclusion, sad and all as it is, the law of destruction must, as it ever has, continue to go on, though it hurts to have to say so because a reasonable balance could net be maintained without the destruction of the overflow; but much suffering to other forms of dumb animals could be very greatly minimised by more kindly care and comfort of all our domestic animals who return us so much for so little given. I refer to cows, fowls and pigs, the lastnamed in particular, for I am sure if those in authority only knew half the misery many of these poor dumb supporters of mankind suffer, particularly in the cold winter nights through inadequate feed and want of shelter, they would get the shock of their lives, for this is a class of cruelty that is within our power to vastly improve. —I am, etc., SYMPATHY.