The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-08-15
The Canine Crisis-Shall the Dogs be Exter.
minated2

| The Canine Crisis-Shall the Dogs be Exter-
minated?
The following paragraph, now going the
rounds of the papers, uncredited, is evidently
gross exaggeration in some of its figures
The dog census of the United States is put
down at q, 100000. At a moderate commuta-
tion each animal costs So year, making to-
tai of S16S 100000 Of the number upwards
Of 100000 go mad annually, and bite about t
10000 people. On the whole, the crop cannot
be said to pay.
In the census tables, so far as they have come
to hand, dogs are not enumerated According
10 the above estimate of the number of dogs in
the United States, there would be one to every
two inhabitants, counting men, women and
children. A canine census taken at Squatter-
dom, Shantytown, or other of the densely pop
ulated hut districts on this island, would proba-
bly, give rs high a proportion as that. But 1t
cannot hold true for any considerable region or
population, and certainly not the whole coun-
try. The computation of the yearly cost of
each animal is not too great, but two small, we
should say. As to the number going mad an
nually, that may not be so much overstated
nor the number of people bitten. On these
points there is lack of accurate statistics.
Bot in the closing sentence of this alarming
paragraph We entirely agree-"On the whole,
the crop cannot be said to pay" 1t is, in fact
the worst crop raised in this country, rattle
snakes not excluded, meaning by worst" the
average worthlessness of the race of ours and
their habits of making night hideous, torturing
the sick and nervous and inficting bites whose
virus, when it has once taken hold, causes the
most terrible of maladies, incurable by all the
present science of medicine and surgery. Our
exchanges are teeming with accounts of hydro
phobia. The mad dog seems to be the scourge
of the United States as the man-eating tiger is
of Singapore. give persons" says Brook
lyn report, "were bitten yesterday (the 16th)
by dogs" Suppose, instead of dogs, the biters
had been rattlesnakes, or corbras-or other
venomous reptiles Imagine the CONSERVATION.
There can be little doubt that general hunt
by all the brave spirits of Brooklyn would be
promptly organized and the snakes cleaned out
with St. Patrick's thoroughness. 1t shocks the
feelings and prejudices of all people to
couple the faithful servitor of man" with the
most loathsome and repulsive of created things.
But sentiment must make way for unpleasant
facts-and there is demand that something
should be done to check the frightful raw.
ages of hydrophobia. Perhaps discussion of
TIE subject may stimulate science to find some
cure for the disease after it has once manifested
itself At present there seems to be none that
can be relied on nor is it wholly certain that
precautionary measures, such as burning or
cutting out the bitten parts, even when done
at once and radically, will avert the malady.
Until science can warrant cure for hydropho-
bia the question of exterminating dogs Oft the
face of this country remains fair one for dis
cussion. In large citiesthere is an ordinance
requiring dogs to be muzzled in the hot months.
But this regulation is not generally obeyed,
and when it is, Mr.. Bergh says, and not with
out force, that it is dreadful cruelty to the
dog, and might be expected to goad him to
madness and bites. The dog perspires through
his mouth, and to shut that up or impede the
motion of lolling, might we'll abet the develop
ment of hydrophobia. And then the disease
occurs in winter as we'll as summer. Several
fatal cases of bites were reported in this city
during the past spring and winter. If the jaws
of all the dogs could be bound up tight all the
wear round-except when fed-that of course
would greatly diminish the number of deaths
from hydrophobia But there would be no use
in having dogs thus muzzled and for all the
good that they could possibly be to mankind,
they might as we'll be killed. That would be,
in such circumstances, kindness to the dogs,
and an immense relief to all persons who do
not own them. In brief, all remedies for hy-
drophobia failing, and all dog laws being inef-
fective, the determination of the whole species
is forced upon public consideration. There is
much to be said for the dog. He is compan-
ion and a friend to his master-faithful among
the faithless. He is useful for the protection
of property, saving his owner some degree of
vigilance and care, which, but for the dog, he
would be compelled to exercise for himself
Per contra, the dog is the terror of sheep-grow-
ing regions. He hunts down and slaughters
whole hocks. In parts of the South we'll adap-
ted for grazing, papers report that the ravages
of the dogs make the wool business unprotita-
BILE. He is the pest of sick people at night,
with his unintermittcnt howling, and is a
nuisance to all persons in his neighborhood,
we'll or ill, except his owner. And lastly, he
is the propagator of that mysterious horror
the hydrophobia. When the pros and cons are
weighed and the balance is struck, we think
the observation-disclosures would have the best OF
the a9gument-N Y. Journal Of Commerce.