, 1881-02-27
+" NICKING' HORSES.
A Mia Defense or the Practice, Ae-
companled with Some Alleged Rar1.
Regarding Or. Paaren, and Ills CYn.
oYvr 1bnru

i NIlld Defense Of the pract,ee. ~.
companled with Some Alleged Pae,s
Regarding Or. Paarep, and uIs cru.
elxy to Dogs.
To The Editor Of The Chicago Tribune.
CHICAGO, Feb. 26-In your last Sundays lssne
was an article on .'NIcktug Horses" II NV.
pears that tho Humane Society, having con.
cluded thut the practice IL cruel and bartarons
and utterly indcsenshle on any principle of
pracitIcul. utility, produces IN tucoherent and
tedious letter from one n. Fl. Paarea, j. D., in
confirmation OF Its vicws, and publishes such
letter us the testimony or an expert
Who is n. Fl. Paure11, n. D.? Is be an erpert In
whar constitutes cruelty to animals? II So how
bid he gain the experience to entitle him 70 ths
distinction? Is it based on the well-kuowu fact
that Of all the hardened men in this community
there are none whose acts in reference to Ger
tain animals are moro useicsly mad persistcuitT
cruel than those Of this same N. e. Paaren.
The humane u. D. expert lets out from the re-
cesscs s,f hs oraeular t1,tnd the profound asser.
uon that there are stages of cruelty, wa learn
go long ago as Ho%arth. and that those stages
arc still exhibited aud practiceti, cyep in these
days OF refinement, our every days erDsrieucd
and observation are quite sufficient ert-
dence." Like true expert of the mod
ern school, our humane h.. D. re-
OF cruelty in the time OF Hognrth By an appeaI
to Hogarth himself. Aud he asserts that there
age, and would substautiatc this local assertion
by referring to his own experience. Would That
all propositions Of experts were as well fnundedl
The experience Of the humane ". D. In the INIT
ter Of cruelty exercised on animals IL Of IN u1.-
usually convincing character.
For years *his humunc u. D. has been In tho
habit ut raising dogs Of various breeds, and
when ri Il sufficient stage OF development to
endure tho operation, be has exhibited his skill
with tho knife and scissors, "for the sake oc
fancy or email pcouuiary gain" by clipping
the ears md cutting OFT short the tails OF tbs
animals. For this mutilation OF nature be has
not had the semblance Of an excuse which did
not grow out Of avarice and indifference IN
suffering No object OF utility was TO be sub
the audacity to term ~ ''nioking" horses -
barbasous aud utterly useless operation" :"
On tho contrary, It Is It's utility which provokes
the convenience Of tho horse. it is OF incalcuab!e
advantage to its human driver. There ara
horses, excellent roadssers in every other par
by habit Of throwing their tails over the lines,
and keeping them there, thus rendering
them unmnnageable, and often resulting
in Tie PsoeeSss Ss nisSns
renicnce possible to such horses BY reason
Of the operation Of ntcktng to be Offset against
the value OF human life and limb? We should
prefer to appeal to other Authnrity than that OF
our dog-ear and tail cutting u. D. We will not
nlludc TO his hypoCrirenl patirudes. Our SYM
pathies are too strongly enlisted in behalf of the
objects Of the Illinois Humane society TO like to
see it so far deceived as to in any way trust to
tho statements phIlanthroptst Of the Paaren
tyne. =
careful OF the feelings Of the pup that he would
cut OF its tail IN inch at time to save It's suf'
ferins., rather, perhaps, to insure his not cut
ting too short for pecuniary advantage.
Let us 70 to pure fountain for authority aud
ndyicc md not 10 the stream which has be.