Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-06-15
The Dog af
the City Dog
BY WOODS HUTCHINSON, M. D.

a-
In this era OF societies for the
prevention of this and the promo
tiou Of that some one ought to or
ganizc back-to-the movement
city dogs and cats. Every dog has
his day, the proverb assures US, but
the day Of the city dog is long since
past. As special concession TO dog
worshippers he might be permitted
to have February %, although June
81 would be better.
This is not to question for a mo.
ment that the dog is delightful
fellow and the best Of company out
Of doors; that he is our Oldest ami
NAL friend, the guardian of our focks,
the sentinel at our gate, our COM
panion in the chase, and that we arc
as grateful to him for the past as we
are friendly to him in the present.
On the contrary. it is just for these
very reasons, because we like him so
much and have such high regard for
his liberty, his rights and his happi-
ness, that we object to his being
condemned to live in city.
The absence of live things to chase,
OF clean, cool earth to burrow in,
of green grass to roll on and race
over, OF streams and pools to drink
from and swim in, rob him Of every
thing which makes life healthy and
worth living. He is about as COM
Portable as frog in the middle OF
an Arizona desert. City life fits him
like the cabin which was assigned
TO Mark Twain on an Italian steam
ship. 1t wasn't big enough to swing
] cat in--with any comfort to the
catl
A real dog. bogy's dog, a mans
dog, fits into city life just about as
well as ccokle-bnrr fits under a
saddle. Cribbed, cabined, confined,
fcttered on every hand, deprived even
of his priceless ancestral privilege
from time immcmorial, the freedom
Of the night, he pines and frets and
loses his health and his temper. Con-
scquently his place is being taken in
the metropolis BY the lady's dog.
Now, lady's dog is a contradic.
ton in terms. What she most adj
mires in the noble canine are his
worst points--his coneeit, which is
colossal--almost human; his serhsh-
ness and his inpudence. These are
present in moderate amounts in even
the realiest and fullcst-sizcd dog, and
they seem to have got concentrated
IN the process Of boiling him down
to toy size.
All the Objectionable features and
1.kskz 80 X eaai AAv ha.n
been preserved in these little hairy
chrysanthemums which are carried in
muffs and worn on sleeves like wrist
watches under the name OF dogs,
though they are more like overgrown
SQUIRRELS or fur-shelled crabs. The
efly thing canine that is left about
them is the capacity to carry feas
and bacte,ss and to make the side
walks and parking unfit for children
to play on.
The poor little runts Of doglets are
not to blame; they are simply what
their owners have bred them and per-
nit them to be. But in the apart
inent house and downtown districts
Of = great city they have become
sanitary nuisance OF the first class,
which the community will not much
longer tolerate patiently, but will
commission boards of health to deal
with them as they now deal with
pigs, goats and chickens.
Their one redeeming feature 10, Of
course, the pleasure and companion
ship which they give to their owners.
But this again, like the social graces
Of pigs and chickens, must be bal