The Elk Mountain pilot., 1903-11-10
Humane Society Work.

! Secretary E. X. Whitehead of the
| Colorado Humane Society yesterday
| gave resume of the work and history
| OF the Humane Society, says the Den
| yer Republican. The burden of his
| remarks was that through many years
/ or persistent effort the Humane So
ciety had gradually forced its way into
| public favor and made possible the
| better treatment of children and dumb
animals. In the early sos the society
| bad difficult times, and when an agent
OF the society sought to correct par
| ent or the owner of an animal he was
| always subject to some abuse and at
times to some violence. But in recent
| years the people of the state have
changed in their opinions and they
now believe that the Humane Society
has accomplished good work.
The history, that is the early his
tory. of the society for the prevention
of cruelty to children and animals
presume was about the same as in
other parts of the country" began Mr..
Whitehead. 1T had its struggles and
had to fight for many years before 1t
came to be recognized as a beneficial
institution. AT the start we met with
bitter opposition from people, who, by
the right of parentage of children or
ownership of animals, thought that
they had the right to treat them as
they saw fit. The officers of the So
ciety were not recognized, but the
change in public sentiment has been
gradual and | believe almost COM
plete.
we seldom meet any one nowadays
who disputes the rights of animals or
children under the law, or offers any
material resistance to its enforce
ment. In fact we seldom meet any
body who can not be persuaded into
taking the proper view of the matter
The great majority of the cases of
abuse and neglect reported to the Of
flee can be dealt with in this way. 1t
is only in the most serious cases that
we consider it necessary or desirable
to prosecute.
so far as we are informed there
is no community in this country where
childre0 and dumb animals are better
treated than in Colorado. with the ex-
ception. of the neglect of range cat
tie.
In the early days of the society l
do not now recall any special in
stances of abuse which gave rise to
trouble. although we had trouble and
plenty of 1t. In the early days of the
society when an officer of the society
accosted a man with respect to
complaint of cruelty to a child or ami
NAL he was almost certain to be
abused, and threatened and generally
defed. Lame, sick and starved horses
were common sights in the city The
courts would not sustain prosecutions
nor adequately punish persons con
victed. Public sentiment was not very
actively on our side. The agents in
those days that is in the early SOS
were confronted with hard PROPOSE
ton. Even as late as 1895 a genuine
bull fight was held in the town of
Gillett. The local authorities refused
to interfere and the agents of the HUI
name society were unable to prevent
1t because they did not have sufficient
authority and backing.
THE trouble which happened on
Monday Tin which an officer shot a
man who had fired at him with n rifle)
was the most serious we have ever
had
''In my opinion the most powerful
agency outside of the efforts of the
society itself in reaching this end has
been the almost unanimous support of
the newspapers. Thos who were in
charge of the society had intelligence
enough to realize how much good the
newspapers were able and disposed to
do in this line. and | am glad to give
them the credit which is justly due
them.
Further might add that the laws
for the protection of children in the
matter of child labor. education and
the prevention of child insurance in
Colorado are in advance of any other
country in the world"