, 1889-06-26
MurILArINe HORSES.
Denounoing the Barbarous Practice of
Docking the Animals Tails.


Denounoing the Barbarous Practice Of
Docking the Animals Tails.
The legislature of Massachusetts, has
enacted a law against the practice of
docking the tails of horses.
That is a law in the interest of hui
manity and m sense
The mutilation of a horse by chop
ping off his tail is no less a mutilation
in reality than the cutting off of his
ears, or taking out one of his eyes. In
either case it is not only an atrocious
act of cruelty to the horse, inflicting
needless pain, but produces q disfg-
urement.
1t is not only in bad taste, it is es-
sentially barbarous. 1t belongs prop
erly with the customs of tribes that
ilatten their heads, bore holes through
their lips or noses, for the purpose of
wearing q billet of wood suspended
from such localities by a cord, and
otherwise disfgure the features made
by nature.
AS TO the bad taste, it is an old
Latin adage that there is no disputing
about tastes; and there may very
likely be people who would say that a
mutilated horse, with tail chopped
~squarely off and left very short, IS a
more graceful and beautiful creature
than one whose sweeping.tail has not
been chopped off. We are not going
TO argue the point; but it may be said
that nature, in providing a horse or
a COW with q tail, intended to give
those animals an appendage which,
while it actually improves their APP
pearance, affords them at the same
time a means of swishing off flies and
other singing and annoying insects.
A COW with her tail cut off is not a
worse mutilated animal than a dock
ed" horse.
There was formerly a refinement of
atrocity added TO the docking" in
the shape of ''pricking"-to use a
horse jockey phrase of fifty years ago
which consisted in deeply stabbing
the tail on either side, close to the
body, producing great pain and much
bleeding, and then compelling the
poor animal TO have the injured mem
Der drawn up night and day, for some
time, to help make it sore" SO that
in healing it would acquire such a
tendency that it would not readily as
sumo its natural position again, and
so, in jockey parlance, the horse
would be said to carry a good tail"
1nls IDEA OF carrying a good tail"
seems TO have rested upon the belief
that a horses tail should assume the
position and shape of a ROSTERS. 1t
is, we think, less held now by horse
fanciers-
Ono added reason against the "dock-
ing of horses tails is the fact that
the practice, barbarous as it is, lacks
eve the merit of originality. 1t is a
weak and slavish imitation. 1t is an
ape like imitation of the English prac-
tice. Because English fox hunters
and horse owners know no better than
to intlict injury upon their horses, we
must needs ape them, even in this
bad custom, as in everything else. 1t
is a disgrace to the imitators, and n
shame to any person who lays any
claim to the possession of humane feel
ings.
1t is good TO see some tendency,
even a little, TO an abandonment of
this apish, slavish, cruel practice. By
and by men will be ashamed that they
ever resorted TO it. 1t is only one Of
the cruelties wantonly inflicted upon
the noblest animal that serves man;
but its offense is of such'a nature that
one would say it must become appar-
ent even to the most needless OF its
upholders-Hartfor1 Conn \ T;maS