The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1875-09-30
Dragging Horses.

THERE Is a subject in connection with
our iourl0oted servants which is worth
more attention than is ordinarily accorded
it, and, since it is an abuse, a remedy or
means of prevention is needed. We allude
to the drugging OF horses, either to give
them temporarily the appearance of being
in fine condition, or to have the opposite
effect, by making them i'll to defeat their
chances OF success In a race. Both OF
these practices are cruel and inhuman, as
well as criminally fraudulent, and hence
commend themselves to the notice of So
cieties for the prevention of cruelty to an
lmals, while at the same time indicating a
possible necessity for severe penalties.
An act of Parliament has recently been
passed IN England, the object of which is
summarily to put a stop TO these nefarious
practices. 1t provides that if anyone,
other than a member of the Royal College
of Veterinary Surgeons, shall give any
animal any Of the drugs contained in a
given schedule, without the consent of the
owner, he shall be liable to fine or impris-
onmcnt. The drugs and preparations
enumerated are as follows: Arsenic and
its preparations, prussic acid, cyanides of
potassium and all metallic cyanides,
strychnine and all poisonous vegetable al
kaloids and their salts, aconite and its
preparations, tartar emetic, corrosive sub
Innate, cantharidcs, savin and its oil, er-
got of rye and its preparations, oxalic
acid, chloroform, belladonna and its prep
arations, almond oil, opium with its prep
arations, sulphuric acid, nitric acid, n.y.
drochloric acid, butter of anthony, sui
pilates of iron, Of copper and of zinc. OF
these, perhaps, arsenic is the most CON-
monty administered, since its effect upon
the horse, in point of appearance, is to
give an artificial plumpness and sickness
which might easily pass for fine condition.
This all disappears, however, in a few
days, leaving the animal wretched.
While some such law as the above
might tend to mitigate present evils here,
We doubt if such would be the case other
than in very small proportions. Vet
Urinary surgery in this country has not
arisen to the height of a special profess
sion generally recognized, although there
are plenty who are adopts in the art. 1t
requires no license to practice; and until
the same regulations are thrown about its
practitioners as are now about regular
physicians it would be difficult to desig-
nate who may and who may not admins
ter mendicaments in the absence of the
owner, with anything like the certainty
expressed in the term members of the
Royal College," etc.
The matter lies exclusively in the hands
of the societies above named and in those
of horse-owners. The former are already
empowered to prevent cruelty, and drug
ging M under that head. The latter,
if the horses are in the charge of servants,
can prevent the injury only by careful
guardianship. A horse-owner disposed
to defraud cannot be prevented from doing
so by any legislation; but if he tortures
his animal he comes under laws; and if
he sells him under false representations he
becomes doubly liable. About the only
enactment available in addition would be
one imposing heavy penalties for selling
doctored horses, in addition to those
already mentioned in the statue books for
the peculiar degree of fraud, and empow-
ering local societies for the prevention of
cruelty to sue for and collect the same,
devoting the money to the furtherance of
the objects of the said societies Scientific
american.