To sum up in a lew \V(jrcls my idea ol 

 the treatment of animals by tlie ISritish Arm\ , 

 as far as 1 ha\ e seen, is that they are treated 

 in the most humane manner possible under 

 adverse circumstances. Acts of cruelty on 

 the part of the men are very rare, as they 

 realise very clearly thai in many tight corners 

 their horses are their best friends. There 

 are isolated cases of men kicking or other- 

 wise ill-treating their horses, but these, when 

 detected, are very sexerely dealt wilh. To 

 (]uote an instance within my knowledge. 

 A driver in a battery of artillery was court- 

 martialled for striking his horse over the nose. 

 'J'he Court found him guilty, and sentenced 

 iiim to a term of iniiirisonment with hard 

 labour." 



I'Tom Sergt. 11., Army N'eterinary ('orj^s. 

 ' To give you an outline ot my work in 

 ITance. 



"At this horse depot T am iii sole charge 

 of over 500 horses, which are in \arious 

 paddocks, each horse ha\ing three-quarters 

 of an acre of grazing. My first paddock 

 consists of horses which have been wounded 

 or injured. I have men to dress their injuries. 

 My next paddock is what we call the debility 

 paddock, that is, when the poor animals pass 

 out of the dressers' hands, I transfer them to 

 {"■addock No. 1. I then see that every 

 animal has extra food, and when they are in 

 a fair condition I transfer them to the other 

 paddocks. When they are quite fit I pick 

 the best out, and they are examined by a 

 veterinary surgeon. No horse is sent back to 

 the fighting line unless it is quite sound." 



PTom Corporal H.R., 1st Life Guards. 

 " . . . . W'e had that day about a dozen 

 or so horses either killed or wounded. We 

 got out of the way of the guns and formed 

 up. Each farrier then goes round lus troop 

 and inspects each horse, or asks each man if 

 his horse is all right, as the first thing for a 

 soldier to do after he dismounts is to have a 

 good look at his horse to see if it is all right ; 

 then if a horse is badly wounded, the larrier- 

 major uses his descretion and shoots it with 

 his revolver. If the vet. is there he does it. 

 ICach farrier carries a veterinary chest w ith 

 him, which consists of instruments for sewing 

 wounds, also forceps and antiseptics for run- 

 ning wounds, etc. This chest consists of 

 everything up-to-date. The wounded horses 

 are sent to a temporary rest camp, and then 

 sent by rail to the nearest veterinary base. 

 I think the horses are well cared for and 

 get the best of treatment. Sometimes it 

 is very difficult, as on November 1st the 

 'jack Johnson' shells were blowing up the 



road we were going over, and so you ha\e to 

 wait until after the iiring has subsiiled before 

 \ou can see after llie horses, some ol which 

 are mortally wounded, etc. The farrier then 

 goes and puts an end to their pain. I remem- 

 ber an officer of ours one day had his horse 

 shot under him. 1 le was picked up by some- 

 one else and taken into safety, but as soon as 

 it got dark that night he went out in search of 

 his horse, to make sure that it was dead. He 

 walked over two miles and when he got there 

 he found that it had been killed outright." 



h'roni Sergeant W'., Army X'eterinary Corps. 



"^'ou will be \ery pleased to know that 

 the sick and wounded horses are recei\ ing 

 every care and attention that it is humanly 

 possible to give them under the circumstances, 

 and those that are too far gone are at once 

 put out of their misery." 



I'Tom J. II. 



"At . . . \ eterinar\' Uase, where 1 was 

 atlarhed to the A.X'.C. (No. 7 and 8 Section), 

 1 had an opportunity of seeing something of 

 the treatment of animals sick in camp, and 1 

 can say that everything possible is done for 

 the care and treatment of them, and those 

 which are too far gone are mercifully des- 

 troyed." 



k'rom Sergeant K., Army \'eterinary Corps. 



" I ha\e been out here collecting woimded 

 and stray horses; some of them were in a 

 terrible condition. We have in hospital, 

 where I am at present, nearly 3,000 ; half of 

 these are now fit for work again — a large 

 number will be sent out to graze — and the 

 remainder are under treatment. All horses 

 that are in a condition past remedy we destroy. 

 There is not the slightest doubt that this corps 

 is performing great work, both from a humane 

 and financial point of view, as otherwise a 

 large number of these horses would ne\er be 

 treated." 



r^rom H. C. H., 3rd Coldstream Cuards. 



"Our horses are in fine condition, con- 

 sidering the vast amount of work they have 

 had to do. We ha\e destroyed several with 

 only sprains and kicks, rather than tra\el 

 them. I myself have shot two, and also 

 assisted in the treatment of sores, which I am 

 pleased to say arc not so frecjueiit now as at 

 first, the cause of which was the new harness. 

 Others that have been hit badly have been sent 

 down to ' \'et. Corps Base,' others we have 

 attended to ourselves, and I think the horses 

 used by our troops out here are in a better 

 condition, taking them on the whole, than the 

 French and J>elgian." 



