The Washington times., 1910-08-03
FAYORS MUZZLES
ON DOGS ALL TINE
Health Officer Thinks That
the Only Sure Proven
tive of Rabies.

That the muzzIius OF dogs in the
District OF Columbia should be con
tinuous, IS the opinion Of Health Of
ncer Woodward. upon whose recon-
mendatiOn the Commissioners have
decided that all dogs shall be muz-
Zled FOR period OF one year
y believe that every dog in the Dis
trict should be required to wear q
uIUzle constantly" said Dr. Wood
ward today I'm this way the public
would be assured Of safeguard
against rabies.
"Jhere Is no objection on the part
Messing of horses or TO the tetheriuE
odf q great or COW, and in my opinion
there IS no valid ground Tor protest
against the EgzzllnS or dogs eSI'e-
ciaUy in view OF the danger 10 the
commuuity from rabies
II any such thing as an effective, sub
stanrial, humane, aLl-leathsF muZZle gN-
lists, ] have never seen IT. Most telLGeC
mUZZleS are simply Dlu1LS. designed 70
bUnco the pOunduaSter- The few mat
IeAly prevent the dog from DlunS OF
swapping are brutal. Some hybrid u1uz-
zles are made, half leather and half
wire These are somewhat more en-
Cient than the aIl-ieather muzZics, but
not as efficient as the ali-WlTe mIZEle$.
-All-wire muzzIes are the only kind, Il
seems 10 me, thai meet the requirerI snLs
OF the law
Dogs Intellectually muzzled VIII be
tmpOunded as though they were not
uuZzled at all The owners Of such dogs
viii be prosecuted for failure TO muzzle
them in the manner required By law
Train Dogs To Muzzles.
a dog can be trained to the muzzIe
Just Is a horse becomes accustomed 70
harness It's education should begin
when it is a puppy To compel the
wearing Of muZZles constantly would
require Congressional action, as under
the present law the Commissioners are
authorized 90 issue q muzzlinE order
only when il is IeCeSs-Ja1ed by an out
break Of rabies"
a similar outbreak occurred in the Dis
JTlCL IN June, 1915, and II was upon the
direct suggestion of President Roosevelt
that the Commissioners issued a muz-
zllng order for a period Of six months
Acton OF this kind was recommended
b. the Bureau Of Animal IndusCry-, but
IN view OF numerous protests the Com
InisSloners failed 10 adopt the recon-
mendati0n-
The prevalence Of "a bies in the Dis
trIct was brought TO the attention Of
President Roosevelt by the Secretary
OF Agriculture with the result that a
note was forwarded from the White
House 10 the District building suggest
ing that Il would be wei TO follow the
ADVICE OF the Bureau Of Animal Indus
Within a few days the muzzIing order
was in effect
Cause Of Present Outbreak.
The present outbreak IS attributed n
part TO the fact that the order OF 1893
was not OF sufficient duration II has
been proven that dogs develop rabies
after q years quarantine, and II Is be
Ieved that many OF the CANNES which
are EoW suffering from the disease were
bitten durlng the period following The
resembling OF the order
It is impossible 10 estimate the mum
Der Of animals that are bitten by . mad
COS, according 10 officials Of the Health
department Such an animal VIII run
for miles. il Is said, swapping at every
Its path until il falls exhausted
The number Of dogs IN the District IS
bvtween 1850 and $500 The greatest
danger IL is said Is among the ami
mails that are tagged as uutassed dogs,
which are soon ImPouuded and Ce-
sTOyed-
Owners Want Dogs Killed
The present scare, however. has re
suited in a number Of owners re
questing that their dogs be collected,
Poundmaster EInsteiu having had re-
Gently about thirty such requests a
day
TIE muzzIiug order viii 80 into
edRL tomorrow A few days grace,
however, viii be allowed owners 10
obtain muzzles- The warning Is issued
BY the Hath Department that all
dogs without muZZles VIII be i'm
pounded and their owners VIII be
liable TO fine and Imprisonment