34 



First Scotch Case. 



George Wilson, cattle dealer, Cupar-Fife, was on the (5th of March, 1888, at 

 the instance of Roht. W. Renton, summoned before one of the sheriff-substitutes 

 of Fifeshire at Cupar, charged with a contravention of the Act for the Prevention 

 of Cruelty of Animals in having dehorned 37 oxen, the property of Donald Rob- 

 ertson. Among the facts held proved by the sheriff-substitute were the fol- 

 lowing : 



The cattle 'referred to in the complaint were dehorned by the respondent 

 acting on' the instructions of Donald Robertson, farmer, Mayfield, near Cupai, the 

 owner of the cattle, with the assistance of four other men. The horns were sawn 

 off close to the head by the respondent, the skin at the base of the horn being 

 first cut with a knife to permit of the saw getting close to the skull. The opera- 

 tion caused profuse bleeding and the animals appeared to suffer considerable pain 

 during it, as evinced by their bellowing. The sawing through of each horn occu- 

 pied about a minute. The operations took place on January 7th and January 

 23rd. 



On January 28, the oxen were seen by Principal Walley, of the Royal Vet- 

 erinary College, Edinburgh, and Mr. John E. Grey, V. S., Edinburgh They 

 furnished a report setting forth that they inspected two lots of nine and 28 that 

 bore evidence of having been recently dehorned. In each case the horns had been 

 removed close to the skull and in one animal the sinuses of the head had been 

 opened. The report continued : " A considerable quantity of blood and purulent 

 matter had in most cases escaped from the wounds and had dried on the hair at 

 the sides of the head and face, and several of the animals, a white bullock in par- 

 ticular, were standing with the nose protruded and shrunken in the flanks and 

 had the appearance of having suffered from the effects of the operation. The 

 removal of the horns had in some cases been effected so close to the skull as to 

 necessitate cutting through the skin of the head. We are of opinion that the 

 operation must have caused much pain and been the means of much subsequent 

 suffering and being performed in the manner described was a grossly cruel opera- 

 tion and quite unnecessary for all. practical purposes." 



A number of professional and practical witnesses were examined both for 

 the prosecution and the defence and the result of their evidence may be shortly 

 summarised as follows : 



It was held as proved that the cells of the horn core are lined with a delicate 

 membrane which is extremely sensitive and vascular,? particularly at the base of 

 the horn where it is continuous with the lining of the sinuses of the head. 

 Between the core of the horn and the outside horn covering is another delicate 

 sensitive membrane continuous with the true skin of the head and the most sen- 

 sitive part of the body of the animal. That intense pain was caused by cutting 

 through these structures as well as subsequent suffering from inflammation, 

 increased in case of injuries to the horn, by there being no relief from swelling 

 owino - to the hard nature of the surrounding substances. That in the cattle in 

 question the sinuses of the head had in each case been laid open which led to 

 greater risk of inflammation. It was also held as proved that in many places the 

 objects sought to be attained by dehorning were met either by separating the 

 vicious and weak animals by putting wooden balls or pieces of wood on the 

 horns or by what is known as " tipping," namely cutting off the tip of the horn 

 just above the quick ; that these methods had proved satisfactory in those dis- 

 tricts, and that thousands of cattle of all breeds so treated, came weekly into the 

 Edinburgh cattle market. 



