134 Agricultukal Experiment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. 



Origin of the Practice in Ontario. 



The practice of dehorning cattle appears from the evidence to have 

 been first introduced into this Province in the year 1888, by Messrs. 

 Kinney and Johnson, farmers, of South Norwich, Oxford county. It 

 was not, however, adopted to any great extent until February, 1890, 

 when Mr. Chauncey Smith, a farmer's son residing in the township of 

 Dereham, Oxford county, on returning from a visit to the State of 

 Illinois, where the practice prevailed, set an example by dehorning his 

 father's herd. In a short time this example was followed by Mr. Smith's 

 neighbors, many of whom became warm advocates of the practice. 



Considerable controversy arose as to the amount of pain involved in 

 the operation, and in February, 1891, Mr. W. V. Nigh, a farmer of 

 of Avon, Middlesex county, was prosecuted before two Justices of the 

 Peace at London on the charge of cruelty. The case was dismissed on 

 the evidence of ten wit:iesses that the operation was a beneficial one and 

 the suffering of short duration. 



The practice continued to extend, and the services of Messrs. 

 Chauncey Smith and W. A. Elliott, who had made a study of the 

 operation, were frequently in demand. Mr. Smith stated in evi- 

 dence that he had dehorned 250 head while Mr. Elliott gave the 

 number of cattle he had operated upon to be about 400. The 

 great majority of these operations took place in Oxford, Norfolk 

 and Elgin counties, and although dehorning has been tried experi- 

 mentally in various parts of the Province, the practice is largely 

 confined at present to the counties mentioned. 



Acting on behalf of the opponents of the practice, Mr. Charles 

 Hutchinson, Crown Attorney of Middlesex,* instituted proceedings in 

 January, 1892, against Messrs. William York, Sr., W. A. Elliott and 

 Edward York, charging them with cruelty to animals in having cut off 

 the horns of the cattle of the first named defendant. The case was 

 called at the Interim Sessions, London, on January 6th, before Messrs. 

 Smythe and Lacey, Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex, 

 and after a thorough trial each of the defendants was fined $50 and in 

 default of payment one month in the County Jail. 



* The Dominion statute against crvielty to animals under M^hich the prose- 

 cutions were brought, reads as follows: " Everyone who wantonly, cruelly, or 

 unnecessai'ily beats, binds, ill treats, abuses, overdrives or tortures any cattle, 

 poultry, dog, domestic animal or bird shall, upon summary conviction before 

 two justices of the peace, be liable to a penalty not exceeding $50 or imprison- 

 ment for any term not exceeding three months."' 



