Goldsboro semi-weekly argus., 1909-10-27
THE DOG MENACE.


Every day that comes we read In the
papers OF mad dogs at large and OF
NUMBERS of people and all kinds OF
anlmaIs-lncIud1ng dogs-being bitten
to III turn go mad and die OF hydra
phobla-and all for what?
Several times kind and thoughtful
friends nave suggested that this paper
is not sumclently appreclatlve OF
man most faithful fr1end''-the dog.
Tney nave cited instances Of the ad-
m1rabIe conduct OF dogs, OF various
deeus tnat ranged from the saving Oh
the lives of men amid the SHOWS OF
the Alps to the riddlng OF the house OF
rats. 1ney have with sympathetic
TENDERNESS recalled the chlldren's pet,
protector OF splnster solitude, and the
ueVoLeu uetenuer OF home against the
nIun1gut intruder.
All OF which is fine and elicits our
entIre ana hearty endorsement. Ih1s
paper mas no marsh words for dogs, no
eumlty against the canine breed in
dogs tnat have homes and think
enough Of them to stay in them. We
snould oner no objection if every
house in the city had it's dog protec-
tor, provided, however, that the dog
was Kept upon it's owners premises
and was not allowed to become
barklng, hoWlng nuisance to the
ne1gnDorhood.
we 90 not believe that, in defiance
of the law, and in disregard of the
most OBVIOUS consideration of the
safety OF otner people, anybody should
turn loose a dog upon the community.
C1 course their dog" would not bite
oIner people, and 1t is beyond reason
that the yeIpIng OF their precious pet
could annoy anybody on earth, but
they do, and right there the argu-
ment begins.
Every person of fair intelligence
knows tnat a great many people are
bitten by dogs every year, and 1t is
invariably the case that the owners
protest tnat the dogs never were
known to bite before" are not vicious,
and in fact are perfectly harmless.
sun the biting goes on and people suf-
fer and sometimes die from the effects.
Baltimore has a dog law that Is
somewhat similar to the one in Colds
boro, the most striking similarity be-
ing the apparent neglect in enforcing
1t IN botn cities, and here is what the
sun mas to say for it:
The otner day an unmuzZled dog
attacked the four-year-old child OF 1.
H. Meyer, bit the boy several times in
the face and probably disfgured him
for life. Besides this, for some time
to come the parents will watch day by
day for the first symptoms Of the
dreaded rabies, which is always a pos
sible result. The owner of the dog
was hailed into court at the Northeast
ern Police Station and was released
upon payment Of the costs of the war
rant, $1.7O. This is no penalty at all
for such consequences as followed this
violation of the law. The law pro-
vides that all dogs shall be muzzled.
Every owner Of a dog who refuses to
muzzle it knows that he is violating
the law.
Each summer the unmuzZled dog
gets in its work, number of persons
are bitten, number of dogs go mad,
and now and then a human being de-
velops rabies and dies of this terrible
disease. The ordinance requiring the
muzzling of dogs was passed as a re-
suit of a general and insistent public
demand. It was passed to remedy q
very real menace. 1t should be strict
ly enforced.
Tine present law itself is made
quate in the penalties it provides in
the case of persons whose unmuzzled
dogs bite or attack people on the
street. The penalties should be made
more severe in such cases, and the
magistrates should enforce the penal
ties instead of letting the defendant &C
simply upon payment of the costs In
the case. Dog owners are no more
exempt than any other class of citi-
zens. The owner of an unmuzzled dog
which while on the street bites q child
should be held to strict accountable.
ty.''
If It. should develop that owners oi
dogs were financially liable for dam
ages there might be some interesting
suits. A merchant in neighboring
town was not long ago sued because
the awning over his store door fell
and injured passerby. How much
more liable ought a man to be who
deliberately turns loose on the streets
a dog that may bite the first child it
sees.
You need a tonic that will put the
sap of life into your system and for