Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1914-06-09
DOG PROBLEM TO Be
THRASHED OUT TONIGHT
Next Friday Begins DOG Days. After
Which Unleased Dogs VIII Be in
Danger Of the Law.
MUST HAVE CUSTODIAN
WHEN OUT FOR AIRING
Meeting at Commercial Club TO Discuss
Ways and Means Of Getting
Around Ordinance.

Just because a carefree, unchaineo
white pup that had been given batn
by his careful master, sought to remove
the traces of gentility by wallOwins
in newly.planted onion bed, how,
was sent up by the owner of the
kitchen garden that was echoed in the
dogless homes of the neighborhocd un'
til it spread over the entire city and
caused an ordinance to be france
which compels the pet of the household
either to wear collar and chain or
to walk the streets in peril of his life.
Next Friday will begin the dog days"
and beginning with tnat day no dog
will be allowed to appear on the
streets of Salem without tangible
attachment for his master in the shape
of a leash or leading chain, unless at
the meeting at the commercial cluo
tonight the opponents of the dog or
dinance are able to prepare remon'
strance that will stay the action of
the law.
Sent to Dog Heaven.
Heretofore it cost SO per year to
keep dog in this city and a premium
was put upon stray unpedigreed can
ines that steal the breakfast beefsteak
from tne rear doorstep or wallow in
the onion bed because if his owner did
not think him worth SO year the ami
NAL was sent to the country or to dog
heaven via the pound master. Only
dogs whose masters did not want them
to associate with the common herd of
dogs or people were put upon a leash
and led through the streets. Of course,
when Fido was taking the ozone at the
end of chain he frequently hobbled
! sundry pedestrians when his schedule
run different from his master s, but
with pedigreed dogs as with infants,
one expects to have more or less thou
BILE at times and no home is complete
without one.
In those days the dog without a col
lar, license tag or pedigree seemed to
know that he was an outlaw and fit
well into mis- class, but every youngster
knew that as soon as he put leading
chain upon this mongrel that the proud
tail dropped and the eye and ear lost
their alert appearance. The dog knew
that he was forced into a class of aris
tocratic dogdom in which he did not
belong, and the new ordinance will
bring about like result. 1t provides
that there shall be no license whatever
for the keeping of dogs but tnat dogs
shall not be allowed to run at large.
A dog shall be deemed to be running
at large except when under control by
means of chain or lease or may be in
or upon any vehicle, and, while so
therein or on, under the personal con-
troll of the owner or custodian of the
said dog.
Costs 80 If Caught
If the dog is caught upon the streets
of Salem without the restraining in
fuence of leash it costs the owner
50 to get the dog back tae first time
and $4 the second time. Each dog must
be kept at home under fence or when
taken out for exercise must be leo
about by the owner or custodian.
Not All Are NuisanCes.
1t is agreed by all that not all dogs
are nuisances, nor are all dogs of the
lap variety; some have seasons of use
fulness, as for hunting, and others earn
their board by watching their owner S
property or premises during the night,
but every citizen views the dog or.
dinance from the standpoint Of whether
or not ne owns a dog The dog owner
considers the ordinance a personal af-
front Just as in dogless home it is
considered a personal affrOnt when n
counterpane is torn to shreds when the
weekly wash graces the elothesline or
when dog tracks mar the beauty of the
flower bed. Great questions like the
tariff or the Sunday closing law are
often considered from the same STAND
point, and the men who make the laws
doubtless expect some opposition. II
is likely that the city council expected
; some remonstrance against the new Or
dinance, but even the most cOnscieh-
tious official can only administer to
) what he believes is the greatest good
of the greatest number, though he may
} sometimes be mistaken in the census
The dog owners are in many cases
setting up a howl that makes Rover
} serenade to the moon sink into an in.
significant whisper in comparison. Al
the meeting tonight the question will
be discussed and some action taken tC
alleviate the necessity of keeping dogs
J that are useful and well-behaved from
being led about by a cnain when they
attend to their own business anyway
The trouble was all caused, however
by the dog that wallowed in the onion
patch, and as the character of any dog
is established upon upon the veracity
of the owner, the city council found il
} hard to discriminate and an ironclad
city law results.
Dog Leads Himself.
So far the only dog owner that has
successfully escaped the law is one
Salem man who has trained mis- Aire
dale to lead himself. A short leading
chain is fastened to the dogs collar
! and the bar on the other end is held in
the dogs mouth. He trots along the
street ahead Of his master devoting his
} whole time to the business of leading
himself. The dog feels tne response
bility placed upon him and so far ha:
scOrncd TO shirk his duty because the
minute he let's 20 Of the bar to bark
bite or growl he becomes an Unbiased
canine and amenable TO the law and q
source of expense 20 his master.
Self preservation has forced mankind
and dogdom into strange practices, but
"a law is law even as a dog is a dog
g st,ofs.a - rol,n-on