Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1904-03-02

IN SSsN~@b$ A typical bill OF this sort IL IA
khered by Senator Armstrong in the New YORK
State Legislature 1t not only prohibits the docking
Of horses, but makes It misdemeanOr, punishable
by fine and Imprisonment for any person to Own
locked horse that is not registered with the county
clerk, or to import such horse Into the state.
It is an excellent BILL as are those in the awmak-
ing bodies in other states looking toward enc same
reform. All kind hearted men in the Legislatures
and all true friends Of the horse will vote for them
They iniure one; they would Interfere ct the
most, only with silly vanity and 3 silly fashion,
which will soon disappear with the passing OF such
bills.
The bills will not even interfere with the horse
dealer, for he never docks his horse knowing tnat
g dOcked horse is second hand.
Colonel William Jay, president Of the country's
leading coaching club and very estimaOle gen5le-
man, sees it to attack the Armstrong bill and de-
fend the docking Of horses
\ He says it does not hurt the horse; that horse
docked in the morning is frequently driven without
discomfort the same afternoon.
\ Colonel Jay must know better.
Many horse has died from being dOcked, and
I many another has been made dangerous kicker
and runaway for life by the same brutal process.
The docking Of horse consists in cutting on one
half Of the bOny substance Of the tail, which means
actually removing the end Of the hOrses backbone.
Man possesses the rudiment of q TAIL called the
Os cOceyx, which is the last few joints Of bis back
bone. II Colonel Jay, or anybody else, happens to
receive severe blow that particular part be will
have ine idea Of what the horse suffers when it Is
dOcked. By an injury to the Os coecyx many man
has been made nervous wreck for life.
Any man with any knowledge OF horse is well
aware that horse suffers pain without making ans
0utcry or protest. You may dock horse in the
morning and drive him In the afternoon. You may
also drive knife into bis sOulder or g0uge out hil
eye in the morning and drive him in the afternoon
You may give q man fifty lashes in the morning
and work him 10 the aiternOOn-but that is scarcely
an excuse for the lashes.
But far more worse than the momentary agony o.
docking is the suffering the poor horse must undergo
from flies, mosquitoes and other pests.
The objection to flies, Colonel Jay Gays, 'is point
less, because as q rule only high class horses are
dOcked, and these horses are rarely turned out (
pasture in fly time. Most Of them are kept in theii
stables covered with light CLOTH"
Yes Colonel Jay, but how about these '.high
eass' horses when they get old, when their backs
begin TO sink when they 20 over their knees anC
the time comes to sell them to the highest bidderi
Have You ever seen poor, dOck-tailed horse, ole
and thin and sorrOWfu hltChed TO peddler's wagon
pitifnlly wagging bis little stump Of tail In th'
effort to keep away the flies that torture himi ID
you know anything about the poor high
class in ether days-nOw working hard all day win
out protection and stamping the long night through
because the tail that would have projected then
from the flies was taken away BY silly iashiOni
Do yOu know anybody, Colonel Jay, that prOtect
the "nign-Claed nOreot OF COVERS ulu 'WluA = Albn
clothn after the pedder and the fruit Vender hav
got hold OF hint
Don't you know that nine high.class horses out o
Ten are sold in this shameful way 10 an old age 0
suferingf
The only excuse for docking horse is the desiI
10 keep the long tail from accumulating mass 0
mud IN bad weather. But that excuse Is worthless
ID bad weather the tall can be easily tied up in
to knot, OF it can bs banged at the hooks, whic
entails no suering and does not destroy ita useful
ness.
Tbs stupid habit Of docking horses tails vas bas
ed on fashion originally, and it is now based o.
stupidity, fashion and brutality combined.
The English fox hunter jumping his horse thrOug
thorn hedge or over fence, persuaded himse
that the long tail might catch and give him fell
hut even that was nonsense.
The docking Of horses is 9 brutality, wantO
niece OF cruelty. The humane and sensible men
the Legislatures will vote for these reform bills
viii mot iniure the value Of any horse now dOcked
f viii simply prevent the docking Of others in th
lnture II our laws prohibit The bringing Of docke
horses from one State into another the habit Of dOch
ing viii very soon cease for commercial reasons
Al bill providing for the erection in Washington