The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-02-20
The Dog Evil Has Increased.

average Legislator cannot hf brought
to realize the immense damage that
the people of the State, especially the
farmers, have suffered from the multi
tude Of dogs that infest the country,
and should be deferred fFom iegisia-
ting Upon the subject FOR fear OF losing
the yoteof the poor man, whose chief
love they seem to think, is the "yal.
ler dog"
| | believe that the large majority of
the people)of the Stau, greatly favor
dog law. In discussing the matter
with hundreds Of people I have met
only Que man who objected to law
taxing dogs. believe if such law
! were once :.:sdd it would meet with al
most universal approval, as was the
case with the "no fence law which
the writer was first in the State to
advocate and also helped to enact.
The dog evil has increased imperccpti-
! bly,; SO the. maHy Do not stop to con-
slider the anormity Of it, Before the
war no legislation was needed; for the
whites kept the number of dogs within
safe bounds, so that the rearing Of
sheep was little interferred with, and
rabies was almost unknown. Before
the war never heard Of any human
being dying of hydrophobia in Fair
field but one, and that occurred one
hundred years ago. Since the war
there have already been FIVE or six
deaths from this censa IN this county
alone, and it is common to hear Of
valuable life lost from hydrophobia or
only saved by resort 70 Pasteur In
stitute.
At the close of the war Ma. OF T.
w. Woodward, the best lover of dogs
in this county, did not believe that
there was such disease as rabies, yet
in q few years afterward he lost several
packs Of valuable hunting dogs and
since that time he has been an earnest
advocate Of law that would reduce
the number of dogs. The only mad
dog ever heard of before the war
was killed after run of about fifty
miles, in which course he bit good
many COWS aud hogs, but only one or
two dogs.
A run of that distance now would
inoculate possibly one hundred dogs.
The rearing of sheep is now almost
abandoned; but law causing the re-
duction of the number of dogs to about
one-third the present number would
give suoh security that FIRST one far
mer and then another would begin to
keep sheep, SO that in many places
there would be hundreds Of sheep
where now there is not one. Old abau-
doned fields would bo utilized with
sheep and their original fertility re-
stored and the rush of farmers from
country to town would be somewhat
stayed: TNere are probably 200,
acres out of 100000 in Fairfield that
are worthless, and can only be restor-
ed by sheep, under whose hoof the
Scotch say is gold.
In 1866 Gen. John Bratton bought
forty-nine sheep and after six years
time he had sold $1,000 worth of wool
and mutton and his flock had increas-
ed to $50, having purchased no other
sheep, except South Down buck as
needed, and had enriched thirty acres
Of extremely poor land so that it pro-
duced 1000 pounds Of cotton to the
acre. Notwithstanding the great pro-
fit he had derived from sheep, some
years before he died the increase Of
dogs and other enemies Of sheep COM
pelied him to give up the business.
Besides obtlng hens nests, the
half-starved negro dog destroys the
eggs of wild turkeys, partridges and
insectivorous birds, like the bullbat,
which are now almost exterminated,
and other ground-laying birds,
| think that a law requiring owners Of
bitches to purchase from county audi
tors q collar yearly for each bitch,
paying So for same, would in o year or
two greatly diminish the number Of
vicious dogs and encourage the owning
of hunting and other useful dogs.
Valuable bitches would then be kept
and all others would be killed. It is
believed that large majority of the
dogs kept by the negroes are female.
| A great advantage of this law is it's
easy enforcement. Also the amount
paid into the treasury would probably
be ten times as much as ls now collect
e&on dogs (about 81 ,00O), for not more
than half Of them are returned for
taxation. G. FL. McMaster IN the