ANIMALS IN THE WAR

Southland Times, Issue 21362, 7 April 1931, Page 2

ANIMALS IN THE WAR

SIXTEEN MILLIONS IN ALL. USEFULNESS OF THE MULE. Sixteen million animals were .used on all fronts during Ihe Great War. The British Official Veterinary History of the War says that the number of animals employed by the British forces is difficult to imagine.

At one period during 1917 the strength ■of animals on all fronts exceeded 1,000,900, of which 436,000 were in France. The British forces alone lost more than 500,000 animals from all causes, including those actually killed and those who died of sickness or wounds. Of this 500,000, 269,000 were lost ih France.

Half a million animal lives for the British Roll of Honour! Think, that for every two men who died, an animal had to die, too! writes Miss Margaret Cross in the Animals’ Advocate. Miss Cross is such a lover of animals that she gives them all capital letters. Side by side with the horses worked the mules, who proved themselves invaluable. They enjoyed greater freedom from disease than horses, under fire they were steadiness itself, and they were always willing to work provided they were handled wisely. Once a mule conceives a liking for his driver he will never kick him, but if there is not that perfect mutual understanding anything may happen. It is not sufficient for one to like the mule—he must like his driver, too. One mule who really was incorrigible dealt out kicks so regularly to a succession of drivers that he was nicknamed “Blighty,” for he always kicked the man sufficiently seriously to get him sent there. Mules are capable of walking a mile an hour faster than horses, but they cannot be galloped. They can live on rougher food than horses, and their rations were dried grass and oats morning and evening. During the Vimy battles horses died like flies, and it was the mules who got the' battery safely out of action. Mules also are not susceptible to disease as horses, and they could stand up to hardships to which horses would succumb.

The camel mortality was greater than that of any other animal. For- two or three years it was 30 per cent; per year. In the three months from October to December, 1917, the British lost over 3000 camels, and Turkish officers estimate that they lost 40,000 camels in the Jordan Valley alone. Dogs were also very successful as sentries or as guards for stor.es. For instance, the stores of the General Automobile Reserve Corps, were being constantly rifled although guarded by 26 men. They replaced .these men by six guard dogs,.and the dogs cap.jUued three thieves in the first ...week, It

took 10 days to two weeks to train a dog to guard a simple enclosure, five to seven weeks for a dog who had a round to look after, and at least three months for a dog used for detective work. . Miss Cross -also writes-about- the pigeons. Her plea for kindness to animals is irresistible.