MEND THE DOG-LAW. 295 



composed of dog-owners and dog-lovers themselves, or are 

 controlled by those who are. We do not know, and have no 

 means of ascertaining, how many dogs there are in this 

 Commonwealth. Probably not over one-half are taxed : dog- 

 owners will avoid taxation if they can. Assessors, selectmen, 

 constables, and all dog-owners, will shirk all possible responsi- 

 bility in assessing, taxing, prosecuting, killing, or in apprais- 

 ing slaughtered sheep. They generally love their dog better 

 than they do their neighbor — if he is a sheep-owner. 



In 1860 this State carried 114,000 sheep and 112,000 dogs. 

 At the present time we have less than 55,000 sheep ; while 

 we have no reason to suppose that the dogs have decreased, 

 but the contrary ; so that we have more than two, perhaps 

 three, dogs to every sheep in this State of Massachusetts, 

 where agriculture and manufacturing interests are supposed 

 to be cared for and protected. Especially is it our boast 

 and claim in the small districts, that the rights of those who 

 till the soil, and supply the products which support the 

 consumers, are and should be gruarded : and vet there is not 

 a farmer in this Commonwealth who can with any safety 

 attempt to keep a flock in any pasture through the summer. 



It is a shame to our legislation, and to the community in 

 which we live, that those who would like to breed and raise 

 the best varieties of this most useful and remunerative 

 animal should be debarred this right b}^ the prevalence of 

 a nuisance. We have a " dog-law," so called, and much 

 money comes in to the treasury ; but the amount that 

 goes to the farmer who has suffered from dogs, and been 

 compelled to look to the " dog-fund " for recompense, is 

 small. The alleged worth of the sheep killed, without 

 consequential damages (always undervalued by the ap- 

 praisers), is grudgingly paid at the end of the year. But 

 the mere loss of the dead sheep is only a small part of the 

 matter; more are bitten, torn, mangled, and scared almost 

 to the point of death ; the flock is scattered, sometimes for 

 days, and so utterly demoralized, that the animals do not 

 recover for a whole season. 



A farmer who has had a raid into his flock in the spring 

 is kept in a constant state of anxiety about his sheep for a 

 whole summer. 



It Ls not onlv he who has his flock raided who is affected. 



