Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-10-15
THE TALE OF A TAIL.
A Philadelphia Doctors Defense
Against a Cruelty Charge.
he SAYS HE DOESN'T DOCK TAILS,
As He Is Entirely TOO Tender-H Hearted to Do
an Act of That Kind.
An INTERESTING CASE FOR AoRsgMEr

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 1A-The tale o.
Mrs. Caroline NJ. Brooks horses tail ha!
another interesting chapter. DR.. William
L. Zuiila, professor of veterinary surgery
at the University, curtailed this appendage
in question, but says that he did not dock
it. Dr.. Zuilla did cut off the tip of the
horses tail on September "a, and the
woman's branch of the S. P. G. A., learning
what had been done, prosecuted him and
Mrs. Brooks before Magistrate McCarty,
who fined them each S25 for "wanton cru
city,"
The doctor refused to pay the fine and the
case will be taken into the courts. He is
undoubtedly one of the most learned and
prominent veterinary surgeons in. Philadel-
phia, and he feels he is justified in per-
forming the operation by the diseased con-
dition of the tails extremity. He told a
DISPATCH reporter all about 1t to-day.
81 have always opposed the needless
docking of horses tails" SAID DR.. Zu-
lila, $50 have always taught my students
in my clinics.
Duty Only of the Groom.
$50 strongly do feel about unnecessary
cut the tails and ears Of puppies. While
there is not a hundredth part of the pain
associated with this sort of thing that the
S. P. G. A. would have people believe, I
hold that tail-docking and ear-cutting are
offices to be performed by the hostler or
the groom = not by the veterinarian.
But when horses tail is diseased,
when there is tumor on it, or a running sore,
or bad swelling OH it that makes it sensi-
tive, then it is the surgeons duty to remove
the disorder. This is all that did to Mrs
Brooks horse, and if the s. P. G. A. thinks
it can stop me from doing this in the future,
the S. P. G. A. will find itself very much
mistaken.
''This is how the thing occurred: Mrs.
Brooks came to me and said she had bay
horse with a very restless and sensitive tail
He was constantly switching the tail about,
hitting the dashboard, the reins and the
singletree and the slightest contact with
these things hurt him, and he crouched
down and prepared to kick. Several times
he did kick, doing considerable damage. I
said I would examine his tail, and called at
the stables a few days later.
A Diseased Tail CurtaiIed.
il'T found the extremity of the tail swollen
and very sensitive, and when touched it
the horse kicked. Accordingly amputated
the sensitive part, which was about inches
long, leaving still IA inches to the horse.
There was no shedding of blood, and no
more pain than if had given the animal a
sharp blow with whip. I amputated just
enough to prevent the tail from hitting the
shafts and the dashboard. There was no
docking whatever, because when you dock
a tail you leave it only seven inches long.
"Now the society's agent, MI. Carlyle,
testified before Magistrate McCarty that
the tail was not 5 inches long. His testi-
mony was not true. l and several other
have measured it, and find it
141S inches long. He also testified that
after the operation blood was scattered
about the floor. The fact is that not a drop
of blood flowed at all.
'There have been three hearings in this
case" DR.. Zuilla concluded, land there are
going to be several moro. don't propose
to allow the s. P. G. A. to interfere with
the legitimate work of surgeon, and I
intend to teach them lesson"