For the Man on the Land

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXVII, Issue 3271, 25 February 1937, Page 3

For the Man on the Land

TREATMENT OF SHEEP DOGS A SCATHING INDICTMENT An English visitor, Captain J. E. M. Brandish-Ellames, prior to his departure homeward, had some scathing remarks to pass on the treatment of farm dogs in New Zealand. “I feel,” he wrote, “that I must add a protest to the previous ones made at the treatment of the New Zealand sheep dog. I was shocked when I discovered the method of feeding and the kennel management adopted by a large number of sheepdog owners. I have discussed the subject with many people. Some are just as disgusted as myself; others try to justify the system. “Surely no sensible man or woman would back a racehorse which had been shut up in its box since its last race and had had to eat a j few musty oats and its bedding. But the shepherd, whose very existence depends on his dogs, asks these animals to perform duties demanding both speed and stamina in a totally ill-fed condition. I know he argues that a dog works better in light condition, but there is a happy medium which is admirably demonstrated by foxhounds, shooting dogs, and sheep dogs in the United Kingdom. To me it is unBritish.

Educate Shepherds

“We place ourselves as a race far’ ..above any other in our love and knowledge of animals, and here in a British Dominion is found a state of affairs worthy only of the Latin races. One hears and reads a great deal of the diseas? hydatids. Surely this disease eo'-tld be greatly-lessen-ed by the more careful and regular' feeding of the sheep dog. I cannot believe there are not a great, many men and women in New Zealand who could spend a little time, and even a little money, on educating the shepherds. “Owners of sheep stations who employ their own shepherds could do most of all, if only they had the will. A little trouble and a little organisation would produce the necessary daily meal and exercise for every sheep dog in the Dominion. “Too Often a Disgrace” “There are strong grounds for the charges made by Captain BradishEllames against many sheep and cattle farmers, drovers, and shepherds,” remarked a man who has spent years in inspecting New Zealand farms. “Considering that not a hoof of our flocks and herds could bs properly moved Httd handled on the farms and on the roads without the dogs, and considering the amazingly high standard of work demanded of them, their treatment too often is a disgrace. “The same soft methods used with city or house dogs are not expected for working dogs. Discipline and unquestioning obedience are allimportant; but the brutal floggings, the wretched housing, and the poor and insufficient food which too often fall tq the lot of the working dog are impossible to defend or understand,”

“I have seen dogs flogged unmercifully for minor breaches of discipline,” said another critic. “I have known of dogs left unfed and uncared for while the owners have been on holiday for days at a time. Of course, there is the other side of the story—the more enlightened farmer whose dogs are decently housed, well fed, and in perfect condition. Even so, I am afraid that our English visitor is right.”

sheep: Prime heavy wethers sold at 28/- to 30/-; medium-weight 27/- to 27/9; light and unfinished 25/9 to 26/9; prime heavy fat ewes 13/6 to 20/6; light ewes 15/6 to 17/9; maiden two-tooth Down-cross ewes 25/9 to 27/-; woolly hoggets 36/-. Fat lambs; Heavy prime butchers’ lambs 27/- to 29/-; medium-weight woolly lambs 23/- to 24/6; light and unfinished lambs 18/6 to 20/0. Fat cattle: Fat cows £4 15/- to £6 12/6; fair quality light Jersey cows £2 12/0 to £3 7/6; vealers 26/- ( 0 35/-; runners £2 12/6 to £4 5/-. Store cattle: Good two-year Polled Angus and Hereford steers £8 2/-; small £6 15/-; pen dehorned Hereford steers, two years, £7 15/-; threeyear Hereford steers £8 10/-; pen dehorned Hereford steers 15/- to 18 months old £7; pen two-year-old dehorned Shorthorn steers £6 14/-; pen. 18-months Shorthorn steers £5 j 10/-; pen vealer heifer calves £2 .8/-; pen Jersey heifers, running with bull, £3 12/6; boner cows £2 12/- to £3 4/-; potter bulls £2 15/- to £6 14/-. Pigs: Prime top-weight baconers £3 9/- to £3 10/-; primeheavy baconers £3 6/- to £3 9/-; heavy £3 3/- to £3 6/-; medium £2 18/- to £3 3/-; light £2 12/- to £2 18/-; heavy butter-milk pigs £2 12/to £2 16/-; medium £2 8/- to £2 12/-; light £2 4/- to £2 8/-; heavy porkers £2 to £2 4/-; medium 36/- to £2; light 32/- to 36/-; small 26/- to 30/-; choppers 38/- to £2 12/-; best store pigs 24/- to 28/-; medium 20/- to 24/-; small }?/- to 20/-; best slips 10/- to 14/-; besl WCaiiefS 5/- to 10/-. 1

New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Ltd.—Cattle: Heavy fat Holstein cows £6 5/- to £7 1,0/-; good quality £5 10/- to £0 heavy quality Jersey beef cows £3 15/- to £5; medium condiiiSfied £3 2/6 to £3 14/-; forward unfinisfo--ed cows £2 15/- to £3 2/6; boners heavy, £2 5/- to £2 14/-; others up to £2 4/-. Sheep: Heavy wethers 27/6 to 29/3; medium 257- to 27/6; light 22/6 to 25/-; medium fat aged ewes 15/- to 17/6; inferior quality up to 14/-; good fat lambs 23/- to 27/-; light 21/- to 22/6; forward .quality 18/- to 20/. Pigs: Keavy baconers £3 5/- to £3 11/-; medium £2 18/- to £3 4/-; light £2 12/6 to £2 17/6; heavy porkers £2 4/- to £2 10/-; medium £2 to £2 3/-; light up to 37/6; well-grown store pigs 25/to 28/-; medium 21/- to 24/-; smaller 19/- to 21/-; slips 16/- to 17/C; weaners up to 15/-. \