DOGS IN LONDON 249 



I was probably more confined to London during 

 the years 1897-9 than most persons who are keenly 

 interested in animal life, and being so confined, I 

 was compelled to gratify my taste or passion by 

 paying a great deal of attention to the only animals 

 that there are to observe in our streets, the dog 

 being the most important. I also took notes of 

 what I observed my way of remembering not to 

 forget; and, refreshing my mind by returning to 

 them, I am able to recover a distinct picture of the 

 state of things in the pre-muzzling times. It is 

 a very different state from that of to-day. One 

 thing that was a cause of surprise to me in those 

 days was the large number of dogs, mostly mongrels 

 and curs, to be seen roaming masterless about the 

 streets. These I classed as pariahs, although they 

 all, no doubt, had their homes in mean streets and 

 courts, just as the ownerless pariah dogs in Eastern 

 towns have their homes their yard or pavement 

 or spot of waste ground where they live and bask 

 in the sun when not roaming in quest of food and 

 adventures. Many of these London pariahs were 

 wretched - looking objects, full of sores and old 

 scars, some like skeletons and others with half 

 their hair off from mange and other skin diseases. 

 They were to be seen all over London, always 

 hunting for food, hanging about areas, like the 

 bone- and bottle-buyers, looking for an open dust- 

 bin where something might be found to comfort 

 their stomachs. They also haunted butchers' shops, 

 where the butcher kept a jealous eye on their 



