21 



on our part by the establishment of receiving stations and an elaborate col- 

 lection service; and to the fact that by the use of motor vehicles we are able 

 to cover a much larger territory than ever before. These figures represent 

 not only the city of Boston, but outlying towns and cities, more particularly 

 Brookline, the Newtons, Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Everett, Maiden, 

 Revere and Chelsea. While the stray cat problem is still a serious one in 

 the more densely populated part of this city, I think we are gradually getting 

 it under control. On a single day two weeks ago we destroyed here at head- 

 quarters 269 cats and kittens. 



Mr. Smith writes that it is a standing rule of the institution 

 to give away only gelded male cats. Female cats are destroyed. 

 In New York a similar necessary work is done by the American 

 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. President 

 Wagstaff writes the editor of "Bird-Lore" that in 1900 the so- 

 ciety put to death 257,403 cats, and in 1911, 303,949. Mr. 

 Ernest Ingersoll of the National Association of Audubon So- 

 cieties has kindly secured for me the following facts and figures 

 regarding some more recent activities of this society : — 



This society operates throughout the greater city, and picks up and 

 humanely destroys " small animals" to the amounts recorded below: — 



1911, • . . 362,216 



1912, 225,307 



1913, 240,371 



1914, 222,402 



This includes dogs to the extent of about two-fifths or less. 

 This appears from the following particulars : — 



"Small animals" have been destroyed during six months of the present 

 year as follows : — 



There were seized on the streets of this city in 1911, 50,956 cats; 1912, 

 24,624; 1913, 23,239; 1914, 22,265. 



These figures should be greatly multipUed [writes Mr. Ingersoll] to get 

 an idea of the total cats destroyed in those years, because many more are 

 taken by request from houses than are picked up in the streets. An excep- 

 tion to this is the number for 1911, when a special series of night raids were 

 made in the tenement district on the east side and 50,000 cats were caught. 

 These night- wandering cats in the city are known as "ash-barrel" cats. 



