The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1907-11-11
DR.. REED ON TRIAL
FOR CRUELTY
TO HORSE
Serious Charge Against Shell
burn Doctor
DEFENCE MAKES SHOWING
Several Witnesses Declare That the
Horse Did Not Appear to Suffer
From It's Injury.

Burlington, Nov. S.-The case OF
state against DR.. II. II. Read of Shell
burne, charged with cruelty to ami
mails was reached in Chittenden coun-
ty court this morning. This is the
much controverted case involving the
alleged cruel treatment of horse
owned by the respondent, The incid-
ent which happened year and a half
ago, caused widespread interest be-
cause of the prominence of the respon
dents wife Mrs. Ida NJ. Read, presi-
dent of the Vermont w. C. T. U.
The horse, over which the case aris-
es, was taken away from DR.. Read in
this city in March, 1906, by Humane
Agent John Fuller of the Burlington
Humane society. 1t had been driven
here from Shelburne, eight miles away
suffering from what is supposed TO
have been a broken ankle. The ami
nal walked with difficulty and was
shot two days later by officer Fuller.
A preliminary hearing was given DR..
Read in city court before Judge Mower
and the respondent fined 500 and
costs No testimony was introduced
by the defense and the case was inn
mediately appealed to county court,
The state is represented in the case
by States Attorney A. l.. Sherman, II.
b. Shaw and Max l., Powell while X.
+. Brown and " A, Billiard appear
for DR.. Read. Among the spectators
in court this morning were several
w. c. T. L. women and leaders in the
work of the S. p C.. q. in his city
Mrs Read sat with her husband At
ter the opening statements of the at
torneys the first witness was called.
John Collins, blacksmith. He testi-
fed to examining The ankle of the in
jured horse and said that il was so
weak that ii broke over, forward, the
animal walking on the ankle instead
OF the foot. The skin was worn off
and there appeared a raw spot the size
of a silver dollar. The horse was too
weak to stand and he did not shoe
him He testified to shoeing the horse
on several previous occasions when
he was in better condition.
Prof. Goodrich of the University of
Vermont, president of the local branch
of the Humane society; |. b. Whit
comb. proprietor of livery stable; ex-
Mayor j. e. Burke c. A. Barber, liy-
eryman j II. Black and f.. +. Per-
kins, testified for the state, their evil
dence being practically along the
same lines All were of the opinion
that the animal was unfit for work and
that it was suffering from pain from
the injured member.
| In reply to questions from Attorney
o NJ Barber, Mr. Read said he had
planned to have the horse treated but
he was taken sick and never called a
veterinary TO Shelburne, although he
had a telephone in the house He did
not recall driving the horse down
Main street in Burlington and hearing
Mr. Perkins remark that the place for
| the horse was IN the barn or under
the sod He knew the ice cut the an
imal's foot when ii came out of the
ditch on the way to Burlington and
that the horse bled the remainder of
the way to Collins shop The hair
was worn off where the horse had
| knuckled on the ankle and the skin
was broken The horse he said, grew
no worse while he had him When the
horse knuckled over and rested its
weight on the raw place the animal
showed no signs of pain
Mrs Ida II Read, wife of the respon
dent, testified that on the day she and
her husband left home six inches OF
snow had fallen They intended &c
take the animal to Burlington, have II
shod and consult DR. Miller The horse
started trotting of its own accord
When it crossed The ditch TO get back
to the highway. it broke through the
ice and stumbled She noticed that
the ankle was bleeding She had nev
err seen any sore on the horses ankle
before The horse had TO be checked
as it was inclind to trot 1t was
bought for farm horse