Management of War Dog School 



and that there may not again be that difficulty, and train 

 of collecting and training hundreds of dogs in a V «rt 



period, is an argument I would very strongly urge as bei 

 worthy of consideration by our authorities. The he.. 

 weight of indifference and prejudice, that had to 

 come, in the first years of the war, in the mind of the avi ra ■•• 

 British officer, and the fact, that when the subject ■ 

 actually endorsed by the War Office, all form of pr nda 



was practically forbidden, resulted, that even up to I 

 signing of the Armistice, there was an enormous propor- 

 tion of our officers and men, who took no interest what- 

 ever, in the matter, chiefly because they were quite ignorant 

 as to the results obtained. It must, therefore, be taken 

 into consideration, in the future, that there is at present, 

 a large section of public opinion, which might be inclined 

 to express an opinion on the subject, which is really not 

 qualified to do so, because insufficiently instructed. Tin- 

 fact must also always be remembered, which I ha raJ 

 times pointed out, that whenever anything new is being 

 considered in this country, the national attitude of mind 

 is generally that of inquiring as to whether it has ever b< i n 

 done before, and if they cannot find any evidence on this 

 point, to condemn the whole thing out of hand. Then 

 a tendency to regard with suspicion things that arc new, 

 simply because they are so. As a matter of fact, the em- 

 ployment of dogs in warfare is not new, but the .1. 

 person is not aware of that. 



I well remember meeting a distinguished General, some 

 years before the war, who had a good deal of power to bi 

 progressive measures to the notice of the highest milita 

 authorities of the time. I ventured to \t that it 



might be worth while to devote some study to the qu 

 of Army dogs. He replied, that, he was not onl v ; 



