The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-09-11
DOOMED DOCS GEF CRUEL TREATMENT Homeless Ours Herded in Dark
 and Hot Cells HUNGERED AND THlRSllN6 Their Dying Struggles the Sport of Hardened urchins-city Pound School for crueIty-Humane
 Methods Demanded.
HUNGERED AND THlRSTING

Methods Demanded.
 aonly a dog! Only a poor flea-bitten cur that has no owner, and so presumably nc ona to fight his battles. His is super huous life. He fills no useful place In the economy of the world, and so, for his own good and the good of the community, it is desirable that he should be put out of the way" Such was the plaint of a lover of the brute creation.
 'But that Is no excuse for brutality. It is no reason why the dog should be starved and allowed to perish of thirst before he Is killed It is no reason why his death should be compassed In a cruel manner. It Is no reason why the scenes of his torture and death should be turned into a school for the instilation of hard heartedness. Still all these things are the every day incidents to the manner In which the ownerless, tagless dog question is handled by the city authorities of Bir- mingham
 Tt does not seem to be the fault of any particular person or persons. No special blame can be fixed on any individuals, but it is a faulty system, a cruel system, and the neglect to speedily remedy 1t will cause those in authority and responsible for the system to be held blamable be- fore the bar of public opinion"
 The above remarks caused an Age Herald reporter to hurry to the city pound and this is what be found:
 City Pound.
 The city pound occupies the property on the northwest corner of Morris avenue and Twenty-fourth street. The buildings consist of a dilapidated stable and some old sheds. The quarters in which the stray dogs that are gathered in by the dog catchers are kept consist of two stalls. main here for three days after being caught, in order that owners may re- deem them by payment of s1 to the dog catcher as his fee, and in addition the reg ular city license fee for tag.
 The dogs are supposed to be fed from the refuse food from the jail, and are said to be supplied with water to drink, but when the reporter visited the pound the dogs, about twenty-five in number, lay panting in the dark, stifing dens, with out sign of food or water. and with no vessels or receptacles in sight in which either could be placed. Not one of them seemed to have life enough to respond to friendly greeting, but lay apparently lifeless, excepting for the labored pant ing.
 There were a dozen or more boys, white and colored, in the main room of the stable, eating water melons. ana one of them, a lad of 16 acted as guide to the reporter, and stated that he was in charge He said that on drowning days there were "a Liz bunch of kids came to see the fun" He showed the place of ex- ecution and explained the method.
 The Dogs Drowned.
 This is the way they deal with the dogs. when their time comes: The canines are taken into shed where there Is box about five feet long. three feet wide and four feet deep. This box Is water tight and has a grated partition that is hinged to one end of the box about a foot below the top, so that when it is closed down it separates the box into two compartments. the lower being three feet deep and the other above the grating about one foot. The doomed dogs are placed in the box. The grating is lowered and then the box is filled with water. The dogs die ultimately, after many struggles and much suffering. which are watched with gleeful excite ment by the band of hard-hearted urch- ins who crowd around the place of execu- tion. Of course some of them are not hardened at the start, and they become sick and limp at the revolting sight of the poor dumb sufferers struggles. At least the guide said that such was the case. Any one interested may ascertain for himself as there is a public execu- ton scheduled for o'clock this after noon.
 Methods Used in Other Cities.
 Perhaps there is no other city in the United States in which dogs are disposed of in the same way in which they are dealt with in Birmingham. In fact to deal with them in this way would. in many places, land the executioners in jail. In most of the cities not only of this country, but of all civilized countries, the execution of superhuous and decrepit animals is turned over to the societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and the methods employed are humane and painless.
 very common and inexpensive method which is employed in almost all cities and is endorsed by the National Humane so- ciety is asphyxiation by Illuminating gas. An air-tight box, with glass sides is pro- vided with gas connections and after the dogs have been placed in the box 1t is closed and the gas Is turned on Death ensues speedily and painlessly.
 Of course such a method of putting anil mals out of the way involves the em- ployment of intelligent and responsible at tendants, but as the whole matter is turn ed over to the Humane societies these de- tails adjust themselves