The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-08-16
For the Animals Sake

Wn1cn is state Wlue SOtltLy III
recent communication with the In
dependent Reporter has given some
interesting, although rather cruel facts
which have come to their attention
This society will send humane agent
at its own expense, to any place IN
Maine where his services are needed
They employ one state agent by the
year and others from time to time
and especially aim to help the var
ious local agents in cases, where fol
any reason, it is difficult or incon-
venient for them to act. They VIII
also furnish without charge. medicine
for horses, and bulletins and circulars
about the care of horses and other
stock Apply by letter or telephone
to the president of the society, Chas
A. Gould, Pennington or to any oil
the local representatives.
They say as follows:
THE SPRING SEASON
Spring poor" used to be a common
expression in northern New England
and toward the end of every winter
there are still to be found many anil
mails emaciated from hunger. One
such case this year was that of a
man who had so head of half-starved
stock, COVE, steers, hefers, sheep and
horses, all turned in together on
the floor of an old barn, partly open
to the wealth. with almost no hay
or grain on the premises. This was
not a case of poverty, but of shift
lessness and negligence. The man was
prosecuted and fined, and when our
agent visited the place a month later,
the condition Of his animals was very
much improved Another common
spring cruelty is that of turning the
stock out very early in the season
before the grass in the pastures has
really started This is done to save
hay, and the unfortunate animals
suffer much from hunger, and from
the frosty nights and cold rain storms
of a northern New England spring.
THE SUMNER SEASON
During the haying season men work
who never work at any other time
and many horses unfit for any work
are pressed into service. There are
numerous farms, not quite abandon
is still cut, and for this purpose old
worn-out horses are often used on
moving machines and hay rakes.
Under the best circumstances, now
ing machine is hard on horses should
ers, and it may be imagined what
terrible sores are made on very thin
horses, working with collars that do
not fit them, and with no pains taken
to clean the collars or the horses. AS
these words are written, our agent is
starting on tour of some back-conn-
try farming districts.
Another summer cruelty which our
agents are often called upon to stop,
is that of letting sheep in pastures
remain unsheared through June, July
and August.
THE FALL SEASON
This is the season when our travel
ling agent stops at every barn where
broken windows, unhinged doors,
holes in the roof or gaps in the sides
foretell the suffering of the stock to
be housed there during the long, cold
nights Of the coming winter There
is always lumber enough lying around
to make the necessary repairs. the
fall is, of course, the season of fairs,
and, unless an humane agent is pres
ent, there is very apt to be great
deal of cruelty in the way of beating
horses and goading oxen engaged in
the pulling contests which nave be-
come very popular in recent years
AS to trotting horses, they are more
carefully looked after than any other
horses in the world, but they are Of
ten outrageously whipped in the fnal
struggles of a heat, and there is much
cruelty in training and racing PAGERS
wearing hopples that have chafed
! them, so that the skin is raw
We have spoken of turning out stock
too early in the spring, and 1t is still
| more common to leave them out toe
late in the fall. Some Of the richest
farmers in the state do this, and we
| have seen horses in field that were
covered with snow and shivering with
cold, after a stormy night in late Oct
| ober. Last winter, severe as it was
our agent found a horse in pasture
In December and sheep in January
| Pigs, also, have to be looked after IL
the fall, for on many farms they ar,
kept most of the year in open stie'
with little or no shelter from the no
sun in summer or from the cold rail
and storms and frosty nights of lat
autumn.
THE WINTER SEASON
i Winter is, of course, the season