The record-union., 1891-09-03
THE TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC
ANIMALS.

THE TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC
ANIMALS.
Sir Edward Sullivan has been writing
concerning i'll treatment of horses in the
cities of England. He appears to have
stirred up a genuine agitation, and the
hope is that reform will come out Of it.
It appears that the omnibus, cab and
hack horses of English cities are over
worked, much abused, receive nine hun
dred and ninety blows undeservedly for
every deserved flourish of the lash. They
are not relieved by an extra horse as
with US in ascending hills when drawing
heavy loads; they are handled in the
main by men Indifferent to animal suffer
ing, and the statistics show that the Lon
don Omnibus Company loses 20 per cent.
of its horses yearly, an astounding and
unnatural mortality.
All this is astonishing in a country
such as England, where reform, humane
and similar organizations are thicker
than berries in June.
But the local interest of Sir Edwards s
agitation is in the fact it develops by
comparison that horses in service are
better cared for in America than in Eng
land; that, in fact, we are, as people,
more considerate of the animals that
serve US than is John Bull. Let it be
kept in mind that we did not invite the
comparison; that the disclosure is none
of ours, but that Americans win the COM
pliment unexpectedly and honestly.
1t is not going too far in seeking for the
cause Of our English cousins being less
humane, to say that the English as mass
demand more in conservation of personal
comfort and gain of those that serve
them. The harsher designation would
be selfishness. The breadth of our coun-
try, the free spirit of the people and their
readiness to champion the cause of the
defenseless, compared with the more ex-
acting conditions of an immense popula-
ton in small territory like England,
may give US a hint Of the cause of the
gentler treatment of horses here. 1t
may be, too, that as the horse in England
is more given over to the care of
servants than with us, that it is another
reason for the showing relative to our
greater consideration Of the animals
However this may be, it seems TO be
conceded that our service horses are
gentler, because better handled, than are
service horses in England.
And this brings US to some purely
local reflections upon the statement of
Professor Bryce that "no people more
abhor cruelty than Americans" An
agent of the Western Humane Associa-
ton was in this city a few days ago with
the view of establishing humane soci-
ETY. here. He was informed that in this
community thereis so little if any cruelty
to animals that really the need for such
an organization is not felt by humane
people. This is not, however, the exact
truth, for humane societies are not only
for the purpose of protecting domestic
cultivate the sentiment of mercy among
men, that they may be more merciful to
each other. 1t is precise to say that there
is less Of cruelty to animals in this city
than in almost any other, because here
the horse is in such general use by all the
people. 1t is noticed by all visitors that
our horses are especially well cared for.
Instances of brutal treatment among our
people are far fewer than those of neglect
induced by drunkenness, as where teams
are left by drunken drivers to swelter or
ger.
The agent Of the st. Paul society did
find that our method of slaughtering dogs
at the pound is all wrong and after
practice abandoned elsewhere. Probably
had he searched longer and more thor
oughly he would have discovered some
other directions in which reform may be
accomplished. There is room here for
such an association as he desires, and
doubtless the owners of fine stock in this
city viii be foremost in organizing such
society. 1t is costless, practically; its
very existence is beneficial; it a check
upon young bloods who drive hired
horses numerically; it prevents ex-
cesses, cultivates the merciful spirit,
works out reforms in harness, vehicles,
slaughtering, pound-keeping, shipment
of live stock, and other matters.
The society in San Francisco, estab-
hshed twenty-three years ago, was at
first laughing stock for the thought
less; its promoters were dubbed sickly
sentimentalists and sad-livered philan-
thropists. All that is of the past and no
s8c now reviles the society. Il won its