The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1912-01-04
PARIAH DOCS.

Inc iIe O1 uOR uhuer MOhammedar
rule is not an enviable one. While IL.
Koran forbids the taking Of life. it doe ..,
not inculcate mercy or Kindness toward,
the lower creation. Therefore the mon :,
dogs are tolerated, but never cared "a,
or loved. 1t is one Of the saddest siuht,
in the world to see the dogs at Damasc1s
There are thousands Of them is The
streets. have counted as MANY 4,
| fifty-seven in the space of two citv
blocks. No one seems to feed them. and
as for caress, or a kind word. such !
thing is unknown. They are excellent
watch-dogs, and guard property az faith.
fully as their more favoured brethren n
happier lands. The pariah dogs divide
themselves up into certain districts. And
woe betide the dog who ventures outside
his own established limits. They have 4
code of honour, and, hungry as they are.
it is but seldom that they steal. Some
of these dogs are very fine specimens.
and if properly cared for would make an
animal we'll worth owning.
Walking through the celebrated ba-
zaars of Damascus one day, / saw in a
side alley very pretty smooth-haired
black bitch with two tiny puppies.
Thinking to put some joy into her sad
life, caressed the puppies. She eyed
me askance for awhile, and then, hear
ing my gentle tones in praise of her little
family, she disappeared under some
boards, and presently returned wagging
her tail and with third puppy in her
mouth, as much as to say, "You see
have still another" Poor creature! She
and her brood are at the mercy of thou
sands Of careless passers-by mo laws to
protect them, no sympathy to aid them.
If dog is run over he is left just as
he is, until either merciful death relieves
him or beneficent Nature restores him to
semblance of his former self.
In Joppa, Jerusalem, Beirout, and Da-
mascus, have seen dogs with only three
legs, dogs with two legs and stump,
dogs with only half head, the other
part having been crushed in, and even
dogs whose headquarters dragged along
on the ground. 1t is pitiable, and almost
incredible how they continue to live.
They are capable of affection, and are
sometimes of high order of intelligence.
Many Europeans have testified to this.
MY own experience confirms it. 80 ;.
In Jerusalem, on my way to
Sepulchre each day, met sms22. GLOW
dog. | fell into the habit of taking him
a bit of bread and bone or two. When
ever he saw me coming down the Via
Dolorosa, he would run to meet me,
showing every sign of gladness. One
day I came upon him unexpectedly. He
had fallen heir to newspaper filled with
bones, the gift. no doubt, of some tour
list. Seven other dogs were standing
around him in menacing attitudes. AS
soon as be saw me he came to greet me
at the risk of losing his precious meal. l
was touched almost to tears by this
beautiful proof of his gratitude. Need
less to say, he did not go unrewarded. I
saw to it that he enjoyed his meal in
peace.
A clergyman, who was once an English
chaplain in Jerusalem, told me the fol-
lowing: His son went every day to Bis
hop BIythe's school, about two miles
away from his own residence. One after
noon he returned home with wee puppy
in his pocket, explaining that he had
found it, with the mother and another
puppy, under hedge on his way to
school. He pleaded so hard that his
parents allowed him to keep it. The
mother-dog came every day to nurse it,
and was herself fed. After the puppy
was weaned it was decided it could no
longer be kept. So the little boy sadly
carried it back to the lair of the mother
dog under the hedge, two miles away.
That same afternoon, to the great sur
Prise of the family, the mother-dog trot-
ted into the yard, straight up to the
tectory door, with her second puppy, as
much as to say, ''My other puppy did
not seem to please you, perhaps this one
will suit you better. The good clergy
man and his family thought this so ex-
traordinary that they then and there
adopted the mother and her two puppies.
They built comfortable quarters for
them, and all three lived to a good old
age, beloved, watchful guardians, and
at death.
The pariah dogs have been banished
from Constantinople. 1t was done in
cruel and cowardly way. The poor crea-
lures were caught with iron pincers (for
few Moslims will touch dog, deeming
him unclean), thrown into wagons, put
on board ship, and carried to two lone
ly, uninhabited rock-bound isles, in the
Sea of Marmora. The males were put
on one island, and the females on an
other, and tn IRE they were left to starve.
The stronger devoured the lesser, in
their desperate struggle for life, and
then in their turn succumbed to the
pangs of hunger. Their cries could be
heard for miles. The editor of Spanish
newspaper, in Constantinople, told me it
was the most piteous sight he ever saw,
to behold the poor dogs left on the is.
lands, straining their eyes far over the
dreary waste of waters, watching visit
fully for the human aid which never
came.
Messrs. Thos. Cook and Sons had fec
and protected a fine brown dog who hat
been found on their doorsteps two year
before. They rowed out to the island
called their dog, got him safely into tn
boat, and saved him. While in Constan
tinople last May, I had the pleasure o
seeing this dog and he airing his wonder
full story.
Many CANNES were fortunate enoug
to escape such terrible fate, and at tn
present moment Constantinople an,
STEAMBOAT are in fair way to be agail
filled with pariah dogs.-Grace C. D
Favre, in The Animals Friend, London
England.
AGIN' THE GOVERNOR.