The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1871-08-26
Sheep-killing Dogs

Pretty much the whole canine fraternity
may be classed as sheep killing dogs"
1t runs in the blood back to the first dog,
whether we locate him in the Mosaic crca-
ton, or clear back in protoplasm. We
have no doubt the first dog was born with
his teeth at a sleeps neck, sucking blood
several days before he took to his mothers
milk. We do not know how else to account
Tor the blood thirstiness of dogs, and their
pencAant for sleeps blood in particular,
upon any other hypothesis. OF course no
mans dog in particular has this propensity
and of course your own dog never kills
sheep. We never found a dog owner that
would acknowledge his cur guilty, unless
two men were ready to swear that they
caught him in the act, and then it is always
the first offense though hundreds of sheep
have been mangled and killed in the neigh
borhood. The old rule of presumed inno-
cence will not do in this case. 1t is to be
presumed that every dog, no matter what
his breed, size, or training, is born sheep
killer. we lately caught trained pointer,
whose acquaintance was presumed to be
mainly with birds, in the act of running
down sheep. All his associations had
been clear of sheep, and he looked as limo
cent as u lamb; and yet the moment he got
sight of flock, he pitched into them as if
he had been trained to the smell of wool
and nothing else. This instinct for sleeps
blood is absolutely uncomfortable, and we
may as we'll face this fact at once, and base
our legislation uponit Even here in Con-
necticut, where we have laws, and attempt
to regulate animal instincts, and to some
extent mete out justice between man and
man, our dogs numbered and heavily tax
ed, kill sheep, and farmers get only a par
tial compensation for their losses. If the
dog tax meets these losses, well and good;
if not, the farmers suffer. This, of course,
operates disastrously upon sheep-raising,
one of the most profitable branches of hus-
bandry in the Eastern States. 1t is espe-
cially discouraging to investments in
thorough bred animals. Cotswolds, with
good pedigree, are worth hundred dollars
each. Ten of these animals cost farmer
thousand dollars. 1t would be very
small job for dog, not worth ten cents
for any purpose but the manure heap, to
destroy all this property in one night. 1t
is smart agricultural town that collects
the tax on five hundred dogs, and gets
thousand dollars into it's treasury. Few
men can afford to run the risk of putting
so much money into stock that is made so
insecure. Dogs are the great hindrance to
the extension of sheep culture. We want
radical change in the character of our
legislation. The law should presume that
the whole race is guilty, and not Gully tax
dog owners, but make them responsible
for every sheep killed by dogs in the town.
If keep no dog, there is no sense in tax
ing me for what my neighbor destroys by
his vicious taste. If there are but ten men
in town that wish to indulge in this luxury,
let them give bonds to pay the damage done
by their ours. Let them be compelled to
keep their dogs muzzled or Gagged as they
would wolves. We would not have any
mans freedom interfered with in any way
He may keep rattlesnakes, if it suits his fam
cy, but he should not keep them on the
highway or in his neighbours pasture
Dogs are much more dangerous to man and
beast than serpents.-Hearth and Home.