Evening star., 1941-11-29


The code does not distinguish be-
tween bites made in anger ana
bites made in fun, nor does 1t take
into consideration what prompteo
the bites.
II is well for the dogs who over
ran our house when l was BOY
that We did not live in New YORK,
because they would have had to pull
straws to see which one of them went
To the lethal chamber first. Ihey I'll
had mild streak Of cannlbaIlSm IN
them but no one worried about this
because 1t enabled them 10 piece OUT
their meals when the table scraps
were not Of sufficient quantity or
quality. As I recall it through blur
of years, our dogs started biting
people shortly after sun-up and old
not stop until they had had
enough.
Their tastes ran for all sorts OF
persons.
Major, a combination Dalmatlan-
retriever. was the only one Of tie
dogs who was particular. He fanrled
himself as something Of a enurmef.
He would bite only a certain unc-e
who visited us three or four times
wear. This uncle maintained that
he loved dogs but always added IN
their place" and his actions indl-
Gated that il was in South Aneri-
ca or some other equally remote
point.
Major liked to bite this uncle At
any time but especially when Re
was rocking on the front porch in
the sun. We children had it figured
out that the sun warmed our unc'o
and made him more palatable. After
| five or six visits and five Or six Mrs,
uncle never would sit in the sun,
but always drew his rocker 10 a
shady corner as if to spite Major.
/ This was the same uncle who
would eat only bananas when away
from home. He feared a change of
cooking would upset him and never
took into consideration how the
wake of banana skins he left be-
hind him upset us.
One of the dogs. a liver and white
pointer with lust enough bulldog in
him to make his ears stand up. spe-
cialized in biting US children. He
wasn't above getting his between
meal Snacks off the postman or ice
man, but he saved most Of his bites
for us. There were five of us and
he was pretty fair about dividing up
his nips. He would let the girls
have it on Mondays and Tuesdays.
usually. and work on me and my two
brothers the remainder of the week.
We never resented this attention.
In fact. We all were pretty proud Of
Dams ability to keep the days Of the
week straight, and used to brag Of
t to other children whose dogs didn't
keep a schedule in their biting.
Neither layman nor doctor gave
much thought to dog bites in tho-e
days. The standard treatment for
bite was turpentine. You Just
poured turpentine over the teeth
marks and trusted that enough
would soak in TO accomplish the
healing wonders that turpentine was
supposed to effect.
Sporty, now facing execution here
in New York, would have been a
popular and respected dog in our
town. No one had much use for
dog who wouldn't bite. They were
considered sissies and rated along
with egg-sucklng hounds. When a
stranger asked you if your dog would
bite it was with touch of pride in
your voice that YOU answered, We'll.
Just try to pat him and find out"
1t was felt that a dog, to be a good
watchdog. simply had to get little
outside practice now and then to
keep him in trim.
If every one who had been bitten
three times had sued, the courts
would have been so filled with such
cases as Rex VS.. Postman. Rover VS..
Knife Sharpener and Spot VS..
Hokey-Pokey Man that justice would
have come to a standstill.
Sporty, old boy, I hope you beat
the rap,
If you don't, be sure to tell Ma ior
and Dan and all the others who
worked on me as a bov that thev
were lucky to pass on before three
bites made dog a criminal. That
wasn't even par for the course in
their day.
distributed BY McNausht Syndicate, Inc)