434 THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



proportion of humanity appears to regard the animal 

 as a mere unfeeling machine out of which pleasure and 

 gain are to be forced even to the pound of flesh, and 

 not as sentient beings capable of the keenest physical 

 pain and with rights that should be respected. The 

 constant occurrence of the ill-treatment of animals is 

 perhaps the cause of the complaisance with which it is 

 regarded, but it is no excuse for such thoughtless 

 indifference. Society notes and punishes flagrant cases 

 of abuse, but the average human conscience is not yet 

 sufficiently tender toward man's treatment of his faith- 

 ful servants. 



