Evening star., 1898-02-03
D DoGS IN HARM ES s
How the Belgians Arrange Their Canine
Harness.
BOw-Wow Teams That Can Road Ten
Miles nm Hour and Pull
Pretty Good Load.
From the Outlook.

From the Outlook
The Society for the Prevention of Cru
city to Animals in European cities believes
that dogs should not be used to drag carts.
But in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and
the Netherlands dogs are used more and
more every year as beasts of burden. and
for some uses they are well adapted to the
needs of farmers and small tradesmen In
Belgium they are used to deliver milk, ard
also by the grocer. the baker and the
butcher; In the surrounding districts they
are used by the farmer to bring his pro-
duce to market. The police regulations are
very mucn better than formerly, and now
1t Is not possible to overload the carts
dragged by dogs. CT almost impossible to
DO 1t, because of the police regulations.
When one dog is used to a cart the cart is
pushed from behind by a man When dogs
alone are used from two to six are har-
messed TO a two or four-wheeled cart The
muzzie which abroad the dog is compelled
10 wear at all times is used as a bridle.
Tne rest Of the harness is breast collar.
wnich has traces of cord or of leather. a
pack-band and girth. The two-wheeled
ca,r car. is ABOUT four feet high, and weighs
over TWO hundred pounds; it has handles.
Which enable the driver to balance IL. The
dogs are hitched to an iron bracket he
meath the cart. This is the kind of cart
h usea wnen one dog is used. The four
III
1our dogs harnessed abreast weighs less
.nan that used by one dog, because one dog
Is always helped by a man or woman II
costs little to feed the dogs, and that is
one reason why they are so popular with
small dealers. The harness is often made
at nome The country, especially Holland
ana Belgium, is practically adapted to dogs
as draught animals, because ii is level In
switzerland dogs are used in only a few
oI tne villages, and for very few purposes
IN Beigium the dogs will travel a distance
OF thirty-four miles in three hours. This
Is very much faster than the Eskimo dogs
can accomplish, for they travel but Al
miles IN a day. That Is their utmost Iiroit.
these draught dogs begin working when
tney are only three years old, and until
tney are nine years old they are consid-
ered at their prime, although dogs have re-
tanned their strength to do their full stirt
ol work until they are fifteen. Before the
present police regulations, which look care
fuiiy after the treatment of dogs .hev
were very cruelty abused. Perhaps some
VI you Will remember that beautiful story
" me Dog OF Flanders which shows
ana also how cruelty they sometimes have
oeen used To Us there is something yery
unnatural in using dogs to draw wagons
Cniy the. other day the writer saw a bip
81. Bernard harnessed by a rope harness to
small express wagon, and 1t seemed
distressed and yet he pulled so faithfully
the Dig BOY who sat in the express wagon
Win MS knees up to his chin This do.
evidently considered himself out of place:
out thls IS not true of the, dogs in Belgium,
ana the Netherlands. for their ancestors
~. a sehefatlons nave been beasts of bur-
den, ana they are trained from the time
lhey nave attained their size to do this
Work-broken into il as colts are broken
INTO harness IN other countries.