Evening star., 1935-07-14

remedy devised by the poundkeeper
himself.
Also on hand is an exceedingly dig
nif1ed French poodle-a nose-tilted
aristocrat with the characteristic,
shaggy white hair of the true blue
blood Ironically enough. he was
brought to the pound by family that
couldn't afford to hire a veterinarian.
The third member of the mango
gang is a sprightly looking collie about
months old, picked up by Mr..
Smiths alert sleuths in the Northwest
section of the district. This pups fur
is of the loveliest shade imaginable
pastel sable blending gradually into
a creamy white.
But what do you feed all these
dogs?" you ask Mr.. Smith.
There's our staple food" he re-
plies, pointing to two stoves located
on the edge of the court and contain
ing two pans filled with a brown
substance. Our charges are fed reg
ularly twice a day with cut-up liver
and corn meal cooked to a hash
brown"
And now for your biggest thrill Of
| the entire visit! A trip through the
dog house of correction" officially
known as the kennels for biting dogs.
Dogs are held here, in the so-called
| lower building, under observation for
| 10 days. Mr.. Smith explains:
There are 13 dogs here now and
each one has bitten human being.
by persons who were snapped at, or
by their friends or relatives, while the
others were voluntarily handed owe.
| to us by their owners"
Practically all these canine "crim-
inalS" are less than 2 years old. Most
of them are well bred and they rep
resent outstanding varieties. Police
dogs predominant, there being five, al
told. Others are: A Great Dane, g
spitZ, a handsome sheep dog with
wooly brown fur, a mixed terrier anc
a combination of a brindle and q
white English bull that actually i,
striped almost like a giraffe.
Whats worse than a mad dog?'
Mr.. Smith suddenly asks you.
You don't know the answer, so the
poundmaster supplies it:
| "A mad cat. Without doubt this
can be the meanest of all animals
Both its claws and teeth can
be utilized as formidable weapons
whereas a dog can use only its teeth
In this connection Mr.. Smith in
forms you of fact the average per-
son most asSuredly doesn't know
about-that the dog pound maintains
cattery kennels. There are three OF
them ready for occupancy. although
empty at this particular time.
YOUR visit to the pounds biting
dog section, plus a half hour:
chat with PoundmaSter Smith, con.
vinces you that here, indeed, Is
strange situation: At present the
stray dog is an infrequent source OF
dog bitesl The chief offender is tht
animal whose careless owner allow
him to be at large on streets or Other
public places without being properl!
muzzled as provided by law.
Even though the prevalence
rabies infection in Washington hai
been reduced to a minimum durint
the past couple Of years, every new
case of dog bite naturally gives ris
to a great deal of apprehension. Thi
is particularly true when the anirna
cannot be traced. 1t may be though
that there should be no trouble il
tracing a biting dog, especially sine
almost all such are licensed.
Experience shows, however, tina
this often presents considerable diff
ficulties - in fact, that no informa
ton whatsoever can be obtained a
to the condition or whereabouts
the offending animal. Under thesi
circumstances a large number o
victims of dog bites must submit t,
the ordeal of thorough cauterizatiof
of the wound, followed by course
immunization with anti-rabies vac
cine. Even then there remains tn
anxiety as to the adequacy Of theS
| preventive measures.
Certainly one fact, at least, is oh
vious enough: The ownership Of I
dog carries with it the definite re
sponsibility to keep the animal from
biting any person, especially whili
the dog is in the street or any othe
public place. Continued disregard
the rights Of the non-dog-owninI
public may compel the Health De
partment to take drastic action.
There are almost innumerable stlt
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