human sulierin^', so anxious to relie\e it, lliat 

 Ave lia\ e been almost unable to spare sympathy 

 and help for the horses. Man lias on]\' a 

 certain cajiacity for feelintr, and that has been 

 strained almost to break injji^-lioint b\- human 

 needs. lUil now that the wants of our 

 wounded are bein^f seen to w ith hundreds of 

 motor andiulances, and hosi)itals full\- 

 equipped; now that the situation is more in 

 hand, we can surel\- turn a little to th.c com- 

 panions ot man. 'l'he\', poor things, ha\c no 

 option in this business; they had no resjionsi- 

 bilit\-, howe\cr remote and indirect, lov its 

 inception; get no benclit out of it of an\' 

 kind whatever; know none of the sustaining 

 sentimer.ts of heroism ; feel no sati.-faction in 

 duty done. Th.eN- do not e\en — as the i)ra\cr 

 for them untrul\- sa\s — "offer their guileless 

 lives for the well-being of their countries."' 

 They know nothing of countries ; they do not 

 offer themselves. Nothing S(j little i)itiable as 

 that. They are pressed into this scr\ ice which 

 cuts them down before their time. WC do \ io- 

 lence to horses by emplo\ing them at all in this 

 deadl\' business. Our Arm\- knows that. 

 These are the wortls of an R.S.P.C.A. In- 

 spector at the front: "Whenever possible 

 the injured are sent back to the transport 

 behind to be treated b\- \eterinar\- surgeons 

 and also rested, but if they are too bad the\' 

 are shot at once. Hundreds of merciful 

 bullets have put a great number out of miser\-, 

 and it is certainly not the fault of the liritish 

 Army that they should suffer as they do, for 

 the soldier thinks a great deal of h s horse out 

 here. Our motto is: 'Horse first, man after- 

 wards.' " 



That's fme! And though we, wlio are 

 not lighting, cannot feel that the horse comes 

 first, we might at least "think a great deal " 

 of him, poor beast ! 



It is not for me to waste the time of 

 comn:on sense by dwelling on the i)ractical 

 ad\'antages of saxing as many horses as we 

 can. 'J'his is a war of cxliaustion, and econ- 

 omy in liorses is simply \ital, as it is in 

 everything else. It is not for me to waste 

 the time of pity by dwelling on the sufferings 

 these dumb things ha\e to undergo. Any 

 child can imagine them. 



The Arm\- \'eterinar\- Corps ha\e made 

 a splendid start both in humanity and econ- 

 omy. Now that they ha\e asked for funds to 

 carry on and perfect their work, let us gi\e, 

 and treeh', whether we lo\"e animals or no. 

 It is a duty to the country to hel]) sa\e our 

 horses. It is a duty to ourseKes to do what 

 we can to lessen their sufferings, and to i)alh- 

 ate the shame of ha\ing to employ them at 

 all in the hellish carni\al of war. 



Forty to fitty pcjunds will jiroxide a 

 horse - drawn ambulance for h.orses ; six 

 hundred jiounds a motor lorr\- for forage. 

 15ut any sum, howe\er small, will do some- 

 thing to help the countr\- and to lighten the 

 miseries ot these best serxants ot men. 



This is a woik of prudence, of justice, 

 and of merc\'. 



Oi\ e, 1 beg von, ("1 l\'l' 1 



THE A.V.C. AT HOMF. 



IN \-iew of the general lac)': of diMinite know- 

 ledge as to the treatment of sick and 



wounded horses at the frcjnt, some britf 

 description of the work undertaken by the 

 military authorities may be of particular 

 interest. 



Horses i^lay so important a part in war- 

 fare that, from a merel_\' ct)mbatant jioint of 

 \-iew, their safeguarding as much as possible 

 is necessary. There is, too, the humane as- 

 pect of their treatment. Though the stress 

 and unforeseen happenings of campaigning do 

 not permit ot the same consideration for the 

 a\"oidance ot suffering as in time of peace, 

 there is a xery real desire among soldiers to 

 spare their horses hardshiii, and to minimise 

 for them, as far as i)ossible, tlie horrors of 

 battle. 



Prior to, and during, the South African 

 War there was no satistactorx' organisation 

 for the care of liorses on actixe serx'ice. 



The experience of the South African 

 campaign showed clearlx' the (hsadxantages of 

 the old system, an 1 in l^'Oj tlie Armx- \'eter- 

 inary (."or])S xvas c^stablishetl. In tliis new- 

 corps a complete personnel x\as aiipointed. 

 I'lie xeterinarx' surgeons had tlie assistance 

 (jf trained non-commissioned officers and men 

 to carrv out, in an efficient manner, tlie work 

 hitherto attemi)ted 1)\- the farriers. 



The Commissioned officers of the cor]is 

 are qualified x'eterinary surgeons. x\lio haxe 

 ]Xissed four xears at a xeterinarx' tollege or 

 unix'ersity. These do not pass into the Army 

 through Woolwich or Sandhurst, but sit for a 

 special examination after tlieir collegiate 

 course. ( )n )oining tlie corjJS each under- 



