The Washington critic., 1888-08-20
SCENES AT THE POUND.
How Unluoky Tagicss CANNES arc Put
out OF the Way.

a succession Of sharp, quick barlls,
prolonged howl or two, and the reporter
knew lac was nearing his destination
the dog pound
The District dog pound is situated at
the foot Of Twcnty-third street and NcW
York avenue, and II was hithcr Il Critic
reporter strnycd TO learn the mOdus
opcrandi Of the dOg-catchcls in dispOsing
Of the unfortunate cauncs that fall n
prey to their net.
Upon making known his GRAND, u
colorcd man showed him pbout the
place, which is inclOscl on all sides by n
high fence, with a paved yard which
was kept in u very clcanly manner.
ON the right hand side are the cages
which contain the unluclSy dogs. These
cugcS, three in number, made OF iron
wire and having lloor of cement, were
filed with all kinds, sizes and colors Of
dogs.
There were hounds. bun dogs, mastlIs,
skye terriers blacll-and-taus. settlers,
pointers, and the dog ever dear to the
heart of the colorcd racc-thc old "yaller
hound"
As the reporter approached the cage
they all claimcd him for u friend. and
each particular dog waggcd his tail and
looked his desire TO get out One little
dog was so disappointed at not securing
his release that he set up II dOlClul howl
ing, and seemed to think, as this was his
first olIcnsc. he should not be locked up
for IT,. Passing to the cage containing
the larger dogs, they looked rs wociul as
dogs can he said to look, and seemed TO
know their fate. There was one bcauti-
ful setter which had nm eye that, for in
tcllgcncc, almost riValcd tho human. In
10 was expressed the abandonment Of
hope. and il would huve made % fine sub
icct for the brush of Landsccr, the great
animal painter.
No lover Of animals but would have
had his heart touched ut the spectacle of
these poor dumb beasts who look at one
in such an imploring way and in their
dumb show beg for n release.
What disposition do you make of
the dogs P' the reporter asked.
After forty-eight hours if no one
rcdecms them they arc shot' But
do YOU not have to shoot them several
times before death occurs ?n
We rarely ever shoot them but one
time. We place a rope about their
nccis, pull them up little off the
ground and shoot them between the
eyes. Death cnsucs in a short time and
they do not suffer much pain
About what proportion of dogs are
redeemed ?'
We'll, about thirty-livc out of every
hundred, including those we sell. You
see, If II person wants to buy dog we
will sell him one for 50 and give good
bill of sale"
" Don't YOU keep valuable dogs some
what longer than the ordinary cur ?"
Yes; we often keep them two or
three weeks. Those are the kind VIC sell
mostly"
!" Do you find the number of i'm
pounded dogs decrease any year,"
Il" No, / don't believe they do. / have
been catching them for eight years, and
we kill about 5000 year, and the crop
is always goods
What effect does the shooting have
ON those who are awaiting death ?"
Why we don't allow the dogs to wit
ness the execution of their fellows Sec
that curtain rolled up in front of their
cages? We'll. when the execution of the
dogs takes place we drop that and hide
the sight from the other dogs"
" How about goats and cows ?"
Well goats arc redcemablc at 81 per
head and cows are advertised and sold,
but this rarely occurs, as the owners soon
learn of their loss"
=" IF q person shows a tag and claims
his dog, can he get him ?"
" Not unless the certificate accom-
panics the tag. People come here oc-
casionnlly with n tag which they have
found and try to get n dog, bnt on being
told to produce their certificate they
rarely ever return"