St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-05-28
POISONING DOGS AGAIN.
Editor Caledonian:

! Editor Caledonian:
l noted, week before last, Mr.. Stat
ford's article on poisoning dogs
If the brute, who is poisoning his
neighbors' dogs, had seen, as l saw
the other day, one of my neighbour
dogs writing for twenty-four long
hours under the agonies of those ter
rible agony-producing vegetable and
mineral poisons, which should for
ever be blotted out of civilized society,
then, if not till then, if he had had a
spark of humanity left in his soulless
body, he would have said, "I'll cease
this and try more humane way of
killing my neighbors' dogs"
So, am in full sympathy with Mr..
Stafford's humanity part of the
question. Yet, when he canonizes
the man on Summer street who shot
a dozen of his neighbors' cats in day
light, 1 do not agree with him. If
were to shoot all the children's pet
kittens and all my neighbors' little
dogs, as well as their hens, that came
into my grounds even though did
it in broad daylight, (say between
seven and six, the usual labOring
hours.) l should consider myself a
mighty poor neighbor and worthy
of anathemas from all my neighbors
who live in the whole town of St.
Johnsbury, and protest in my way,
against the whole of these proceed
ings. What would this world be to
us if all the dear animals were blotted
out of it? How about the beautiful
horse, so kind and gentle, who dra VS.
us everywhere and does the Juggling
of our heavy loads SO patiently !?
How about the big-eyed, good-natur-
ed, loving COW, that affords all the
sustenance of our babies and half
the food of adults? How about the
beautiful, innocent, harmless sheep,
that afford us protection from the
inclemency of our cold Northern eli
mate? How about the birds that
sing so sweetly to us as we wake
from our restful nights sleep? How
about the beautiful trout and other
fish that swim in our streams? How
about the cat that is the kind pet of
all our babies in all our homes !?
How about the dogs that are our
pets and that are very useful at
many times and always affectionate
and that at least we love? Will we,
as civilized citizens, allow them
wantonly, recklessly, inhumanely to
be slaughtered DR.. Folsom had an
old horse that he and 1 rode gayly
after for twenty years. Did he go
and inhumanelv slaughter that old
horse which had been his servant so
long? No, he gave her good stall,
good bed and good care. l make
this appeal for humanity to animals.
while they are with us.
[ should have been so outraged to
see what the "old farmer" saw eff he
saw it) that no bounds of decency
hardly could have kept me from
reeking vengeance upon the man or
beast that caused the circumstances
of those little lambs attempting to
appease the anguish of their hunger
from the breast of lifeless mother.
Mr.. Stafford kindly appeals for the
trees and condemns the man who
will girdle one of his neighbours trees
because said tree may possibly be
in his way. I agree that if Mr.. Stat
ford or any other man wishes trees
and likes them for their cooling
shade, that the man who wantonly
girdles them is as mean as the man
who poisons dogs or shoots cats.
Will Mr. Stafford canonize a great
of millions, or Feather
less bipeds," for stealthily in the
night doing worse than girdling
trees? For doing worse than Cir
ding all his trees and stringing
and around his trees net
work of wires that will blot out the
clear sky of heaven and for destroy
ing the beauty of his residence by
placing cedar stubs before it? Mr..
Stafford might do this as a lawyer
or as client but l have too much
respect for him to think he would do
it in the name Of decency as well as
humanity.
am only sorry that so good and
humane a gentleman as the "old
farmer should not have signed his |
name to his letter.
GATES B. BULLARD.