Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-20
AT THE DOG POUND.
EXECUTION OF THE DEATH SEM FENCE ON UNFORTUNATE OURS.

E<ECU HUN UT TIE DGNtF7 SEN-
 FENCE ON UNFORTUNATE OURS. The Dog Catcher's Method of Capturing
 Unlicensed and Unmuzzled Brutes-Thc
 Fatal Moose and the Green Wagon.
 Dangerous and Painful Duties.
 A cur of most unpropitious ceuntenance, and with profusion of white and liver colored spots on his hide, was snarling at the corner of Hoyne avenue and Madison street. A little boy with bare legs passed the crea- ture, and the cur snapped at him. The sane instant, though, there was @ slight whir and the dog catcher's fatal moose was around the homely brute's neck, tightening itself in- stantly Without any further trouble the man carried his prey to the peculiarly shaped wagon, which is the hue of jealousy, and thrust it into the forward compartment. There were about score of other unlucky CUTS in it, and as the lid opened and the newly arrived tumbled among them, there was an instantaneous concert made up of yelps, whines and hacking barks. Then the lid closed once more and utter dark ness and silence reigned in the com- partment. The dogs were stunned and thoroughly cowed by the absence of light and the strange situation. The wagon rattled on and a few blocks further on in a side street another dog was shared, but this time there was some trouble. The little boy to whom the dog belonged showed fight and did his best to wrest his unlicensed and un- muzzled, hence unlawful, playmate out of the strong grasp of the dog catchers. But, of course, he couldn't do it, and the catcher extended hearty invitation to the boy to come out to the dog pound and get his dog. "It'l only cost you S5.75," he said. The little boy at once began to shed tears and to run home to tell his ma about it. But the wagon was, meanwhile, a mile away, and an hour later it drove up in the rear of that new and somewhat uncouth appearing building which serves for dog pound in Chicago.
 'What's your catchY' asked the pound- keeper.
 'Forty-seven, mostly no good, but there is one valuable pointer among the lot" was the reply which the catcher made.
 "That makes 126 for the day altogether. And that's good showing. Last month we caught 300 altogether, of which number 204 were redeemed, the rest killed"
 The west side wagon was the last to come in, the other two from the north and south sides having already delivered up their quota for the day. There are seven dog catchers out all the time with the three wagons, and each wagon is accompanied by an officer, who sees to it that things are done fair and square. It will not surprise many when it is stated that the dog catchers' life is not happy one. He is cursed and sworn at from sunrise till sundown, and he gets very little thanks for fulfilling his dangerous and pain full duties. And when it is said painful" 1t is said advisedly. For these catchers are, de- spite their practice and their skill, bitten quite frequently. Two of the best of them were bitten severely the other day, one on the face and the other had his hand chewed up pretty thoroughly. But they don't care
 The snare they use is, by the way, as sim pie a contrivance as it is effective It is made of strong but very elastic brass wire, with handle on one end and made into a running loop. To throw it over the head of dog Is an instant's doing And once over it the loop tightens immediately so as to choke out any spirit of resistance in the re- fractory dog. The wagons which serve as the temporary receptacle for the "catch" are made to hold about forty dogs of as sorted sizes. The forward bin is for the small dogs, the rear one for the larger ones They are closed with lids.
 There were just 675 dogs in the pound when the reporter called at the pound the other day. Of that number, short while after but 500 remained. The other 175 had
  licensed and unmuzzled, dogs are sent to in Chicago. The way it was done was this: The 175 condemned were in one large kennel to- gether immediately adjoining the death chamber. They were a sorry looking lot, and many of them looked as if they knew what awaited them. One aged old sinner of a mongrel, half poodle dog, half shepherd, and with a few more strains of other breeds in him, sat there in the corner all alone by himself. His shaggy head was poised in med itative manner, and he calmly contemplated the motley crowd of fellow sufferers with the air of an ancient philosopher. When any dog in his vicinity whined or parked he looked at him in mildly reproachful man. ner. He did not stir from his corner until the fatal moment came
 Preparations for the wholesale execution having been made, the sentence of death passed on these 175 was carried out swiftly ! and without @ hitch. A good hot charcoal ! fire having been made in the large stove in ! the adjoining death chamber, the whole seven dog catchers entered the kennel On l seeing them the doomed dogs, with that in 1 stinct which is nearly always infallible, set ! up most unearthly howl, piteous to hear. ! The men were not diSconcerted by that. | Gripping dog by each hand they flung
 them, pell nell, into a capacious vat ! WHICH SCOOu III LuS uedtu Uui | opened on one side into the ken nel. Within a few minutes that vat was
 crowded to the lid with 175 snarling, whining barking CUTS. Then few handfuls of pow | dered sulphur were thrown on the charcoa l fire, and the fumes from this were directly conveyed into the vat by the stovepipe
 which ended in the vat itself. Almost in 1 stantly the deafening noise ceased. The
 fumes did their work so quickly and so vel
 that two minutes sufticed to kill every one ol
 the 175 dogs. Next the door of the vat open
 ing into the rear yard of the building wa:
 swung and the 175 canine carcasses wer' quickly loaded on a wagon and conveyed tt
 large fertilizing works. Thus ended lifeh I fitful fever for these 175. Their places in thu
 kennel were at once taken by another hun
 dred of mongrel dogs, likewise put on thu
 death list, but their execution was postponed
 another forty eight hours. The whole thing
 is done in rotation and according to sys
 tem.-Chicago Herald.