The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-04-14
GUARD YOUR DOCS.
The Catcher Will Get En-
Ell You Don't Watch
Out.
DEATH RATE 100 A WEEK
Pound Master Making His
Rounds for Runaway
Pets.

/ Z Gus.
The dog catcher has begun his deadly
| work in Jersey City. Three hundred in
noeent animals put to death is his record
| thus far, and he announced this morning,
when the real campaign of destruction
begins, that from now until the dog days
are over in the fall he will kill at the
rate of one hundred week.
A batch died yesterday and twenty five
are to, perish tomorrow morning. The
dogs taken yesterday will die Monday,
those captured today will be asphyxiated
on Tuesday, and SO on at the rate of
| about twenty-five a day.
| The official dog catcher of Jersey City
| is not in business for his health. He has
a family to support and two assistants to
pay, and in order to make expenses and
| save for the cold days when the dogs
| cease to ramble and fall into his net he
must be diligent. He considers that he
has done bad days work if he fails to
| gather in at least thirty dogs. The city
! pays him IS cents for each dog captured
and put to death.
! The owner of the dog must pay him for
each dog taken out of the pound. He has
| O. tSe ltAi oSoiO VI P1iCtS, WlllCu 10 llAeu
by ordinance. If dog is reclaimed on
the day it is captured the owner must pay
| 90 cents. The following day is costs rs
cents to save the life of pet, and the
third day the tariff is 81.
| 1t will thus be seen why it is that the
dog catcher and his assistants prefer to
capture dogs wearing collars and bearing
evidence Of being well cared for 1t is
H+oI
taken in, too, but If it comes to a choice
between catching a mongrel and well
groomed pug, poor puggy's chances are
slim. Many valuable dogs have perished
in the gas tank merely because their OWL
ers did not know that the dog catcher
was around and failed to look for their
pets at the pound Many dog owners in
fact, do not know where the pound is
situated
1t is in a low one-story frame building
on Grove street on the bank of the Nor
ris Canal. The dog licenses issued last
year expired on April /, and the fact that
a dog has Health Department
tag of 1888 on it will not save
it from death A new tag, cost
ing 81, is all that will prevent any dog
from being gobbled up. After a dog is
I'd ptli Ct IL ~ lltl l0riS-s1 Lis
pound unless it wears Health Depart
ment tag, which is its lease of life for
another year 1t, therefore, costs the
owner of captured dog 81 in addition to
what is paid the dog catcher for
his excellent care of the animal
Outlines the owners of dogs call for
them too late. 1t is not an infrequent
occurrence for man or woman to call
-, ;x, - 10 raaf' w
pulled out of the gas tank Three days
the captured dogs are kept in the death
chamber, if the bins in the S. P. c. A.
shelter may be so termed; and then, if
pardon, in the shape of a tag from
Health Inspector Benjamin does not ar
rive, to their death they go.
The official dog catcher of Jersey City,
so designated by the Board of Health
last summer, is Phillip Seidell, an officer
of the s. p C. A. He has as his able
assistants Herman Rocktoff, a young man
who once did work as private detec-
tive, but who came to grief by his Off
ciousness. He hunts dogs with the same
ardor with which he used to hunt men,
and he often meets with the same sort
of a reception. In his three years as as
sistant official dog catcher he has been
assaulted number of times. The only
difference is that the law protects him
as a dog catcher, where it did not as a
private detective. The second assistant
to Seidell is a fellow named Jack O. Brien.
In addition to being assistant catcher,
Rocktoff is also official executioner He
enjoys the distinction which goes with
the office as much as Van Hise enjoys
being the official executioner of men for
the State of New Jersey. To a reporter
who admired some of the valuable ami
mails taken in yesterdays catch Rocktof
expressed his contempt for all dogs.
II wouldn't give five cents" he said
"for all the dogs in Jersey City"
The Hudson City section was canvassed
yesterday by the dog catchers. Among |
the animals taken were a beautiful st. |
Bernard, several pugs gaily decorated, |
two valuable fox terriers and a number of
toy dogs such as women delight to carry |
about with them. One little fellow stood I
about four inches high. He is considered |
a good catch as his owner will probably |
leave no stone unturned in her efforts to |
recover him.
The Jersey City dog catcher hasn't a
snap by any means. He must expect to
be frequently assaulted and hailed into I
court. but ne never SWeFNeS from MS |
duty on that account. He is generally |
sife to land his dog, whether It is before
or after court proceedings, or before or
after he gets black eye a. the hands /
of an irate fancier. That the dog catcher
is doing his duty well is shown by the
fact that from Aprilsl to last night SO6
dog tags were issued, while in the whole
month of April last year, when there was
no official dog catcher, but 6e tags We're
sold Health Inspector Benjamin is
pleased the dog catcher is pleased and /
the only persons not delighted are the I
owners of dogs.
Last year several irate dog owners on
various occasions open the wire door to /
the dog wagon and freed all the animals
inside Similar scenes may be expected as
soon as the people realize to what ex-
tent the dog catcher is plying his call
ing The dog catchers are working Ber-
gen section today. Tomorrow they will |
go to Greenville They manage to visit /
each section of the city at least once
every two weeks.
SACASTA ATTACKED.