The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-02-09 00:00:00

IS A BEAR A DOMESTIC ANIMAL P

In London, on Saturday, at the Worship street
Polke-court, Hezekiah Moscow, 25, described as a
"lion tamer," employed at the East London Aquarium
In Bishopsgate-street, appeared in answer to a surnm, Us
at the I,,stance of the Royal Society for the Preven.
tion of Cruelty of Animals for having wilfully
treated a certain domestic animal, to wit, a bear. The
dpfendant. a man of oolour, pleaded not guilty, and
Mr. Blackwell, barrister, appeared on his behalf.
Mr. Hannay, in reply to a preliminary objection
raised by Mr. Blackwell, said bears were not ir,cluded
in the interpretation clause of the Act, because as he
thought, no one should be amenable to punishment
for anything done in the chase, in times when besrs
were being exterminated; but whether a "damestlc
animal" did not mean any tame animal in confine-
ment was another question. It was very difficult to
decide as to whether a bear should be classed with the
horse or cat for the purposes of the Act. He would
consider the point later on, as he believed the ques-
tion had no: been definitely settled by the euperior
courts.

Eli "linden, an officer of the society, then stated: At
seven p.m. on Thursday, January 12, in consequence
of irstructions, I was in the East London Aquarium.
I saw Moscow enter a cage in which were four team
Tbe bears were in poor condition. One was almost
entirely denuded of its coat, and seemed to be in a
weak and sickly state. The bears were made to jump
over a board, and the defendant struck them with a
dropthong whip with all his force, to make them jump.
I counted sixty blows. The naked bear appeared too
weak to jump over the board, and dragged its hind
legs. When struck, the animals howl,d and moaned,
apparently in pain. When the jumping was over
nefendant reversad his whip, and commenced an
attack on the largest of the bears, giving it three
" crushing " blows on the ribs with the butt end of the
whip. That made the bear moan. Ha then jumped
on the bear's back, rode it across the den into an
adjoining apartment of it, and there again thrashed
It with the butt end of the whip. He then went to
the "naked" bear and dealt it three blows on the
skull with the end of the whip. A little while after.
wards the performance was concluden, and Moscow
came out of the den and closed the gate. Witness
then went near the bars, and could plainly see the
effects of the defendant's violence on the animals.
One had wounds on its head, and the others bore plain
wheals about their bodies. The witness concluded by
detailing his conversation with the defendant after
the performance, and with the proprietor, who said if
he knew of any cruelty there he would at once stop it.
Cross examined by Mr. Blackwell: Did you go into
the cage? Witness: No, I did not, but I will go in ii
you'll come as well. (Laughter.)
Mr. Hannay here stopped the case, and said
he had come to the conclusion that the defendant
could not be convicted there, and that the statute did
not regard a bear as a "domestic animal." Animals
kept in captivity were, doubtless, worthy of protec•
tion by the statutes, but he could not find out that
they bad yet been afforded it by Parliament. The
present Act was beyond doubt confined in its limits to
what were known as "domestic animals," and it was
impossible to hold that the bears in question were fit
to be classed as such. He therefore dismissed the
summons.

Mr. Blackwell aeked for coats, but Mr. Hannay
refused to allow these.

The society's officer intimated that it was very
likely the society would appeal.