A ROMANCE OF MERCY

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XVII, Issue 5608, 3 May 1919, Page 3

A ROMANCE OF MERCY

LADY FRIEND OF OLD HORSES. Miss Hayes, a schoolmistress of Edmonton, London, has for some: years past been buying old and worn-out horses that were still at work., although obviously unfit, and “releasing'’ them by having them slaughtered. “I have, ail -innate love for horses," said Miss Hayes to a representative oi the Daily Chronicle. “My father kept horess and was passionately fond oi them. In 1911, I lead about lire poor, old worn-out horses being sent ab oad to work until they dropped, and 1 thought I would try and do .something to stop the traffic. The only way seemed to be'to buy the horses and nave them slaughtered, and I began to do this. In 1913, the Horses and Drivers’ Aid Society heard of what I was doing, and helped me until the outbreak of war, when the horse traffic to the Continent stopped. “It came to my ears, however, ch’at the horses were being sent to the country to work there, away from the eye of the law, so I '-:ept on buying them oft of my own money until the following spring, when a wealthy lady, who insists on her name not being mentioned, came to my help . “With this assistance I bought, last year, 100 ‘ horses, but in 1917, which was the beat year I’ve had, ..I bought 192 horsbs, costing over £6OO. Every man who possesses a horse for miles around knows me, and in this way 1 hear of horses that are getting old and are to be slaughtered, or are lame?; and in need of a holiday.” Miss Hayes, vylio personally sees that al 1 the horses she buys are slaughtered, says the knackers are not to be trusted. “I have seen instances,” she' said i“in which slaughterers have bought a horse for 30s in the autumn on the distinct understanding that it was to be slaughtered. Instead, the animal was f urnod into the fields and kept there in Ihe cold and damp all the winter, so that it could be sold in the spring.when horses are at a premium, at a profit of £lO or £12.”