The Glenwood post., 1918-01-05
CATS AND DOGS

II we were to judge dogs only by
Sne conspicuous services of few real
ly valuable dogs, We might easily agree
with their most ardent admirers; there
are undoubtedly many instances in
winch we must give credit to indiv;d-
ual dogs for a degree of devotion and
faithfulness rarely met with even in
human beings. 1t is the exceptional
instances of canine devotion which il
conspicuous. For every valuable ser
wee We find many others that far out
balance it. Probably more human lives
are lost than saved through the direct
mstrumentality of the dog, not to men
tion the numbers of people who go
meatless and coatless, and the children
who 20 soleless and shoeless because
of the ravages of this "pestilence that
walketh in darkness
What of the cat! Is she verify the
harmless, necessary cat"? Undoubt-
edly some cats destroy some rats and
mice, and for this service they should
have ample credit, especially in these
days The most conservative statis-
ticians agree that the annual damage
In normal years due to insects must be
placed nearly at the figure of our first
war loan. During high prices this es-
innate is too low by far. The natural
enemies of the insects are birds, and
the natural enemies of the birds are
the cats. The cat naturally prefers
birds as food, and the number of birds
annually destroyed by the small boy
and his target gun is negligible in COM
parison with the number destroyed by
the harmless, necessary cat.' Each
bird destroyed represents, according to
conservative estimates, about one bush
el more of insects to fatten off our
crops annually.
1t is undoubtedly true that some Of
the birds should not be protected be-
cause they do more harm than good.
But it is precisely these harmful birds
that are not attacked by cats. If the
dog is to be called "largely luxury
then by all means let us call the cat
altogether luxury and luxury of
the most expensive kind, which we can
i'll afford to keep as long as such q
large portion Of the people of the world
are on short rations.
From the biological point of view,
the time has certainly arrived when our
attitude towards the cat tribe should
undergo marked change. With the
world now populated SO fully by man,
there is little place left in the scheme
of things for carnivorous animals, and
much less for the cat that infests our
hoiSes+- Estimates most liberal to the
cat place the annual damage in this
country due to the destruction of birds
by the necessary tabbies at the sum
of $1OO,OOO,000. 7 have nowhere been
able to find any figures on her value
to man.
Psychologists have long ago shown
that close relation exists between
fleas and certain dangerous diseses So
far as our homes are concerned, fleas
carried by the cats are a much greater
menace than those carried by the dogs;
there are many more cats than dogs
and they come into relatively closer
contact with us, and particularly with
our children.
If the so-called value of cats as hun
tiers of rats be really tested out by ex-
pertinent and statistics the conclusions
will furnish cause for much surprise
and tabby will lose most of her best
friends. The value of cats is largely
question of sentiment, based entirely
on the fact that they have always been
with us and without any intelligent
reason in. its support.
The dog has devotion and faithful
ness to his credit, but not the cat. Your
caress she repays by playful dig into
your anatomy with her germladen
claws. In payment for the food You
set before her she indolently searches
out the cosiest place by your fireside,
and for the shelter you give her she
literally distributes her superfluous
fleas through the rugs and carpets in
your house. In exchange for the sweet
songs Of birds that have gone to salts
fly her appetite she robs you Of your
sleep at night with the most hideous
and nefve-racking sounds produced by
vocal organs. ' i
The case against the cat is not com
plete BY any means, but It i, sufficient
ly strong in its present stage to make
it well worth while to give it serious
consideration. Economists and scien.