CHAP. XIV] 



OPINIONS ON DOCKING 



179 



practice as the result of want of knowledge and 

 cruelty. 



The Lord Bishop of Toronto writes to me : "I 

 am glad you are waging war against the practice. 

 I regard it as a barbarity unworthy of an en- 

 lightened, not to say Christian, civilisation." 



Sir Heni-y Pellatt writes : " I have always felt 

 very strongly against this barbarous practice, 

 one that is entirely unjustified by the results." 



Ruskin said: "Without perfect sympathy 

 with the animals around us, no gentleman's 

 education, no Christian education, could be of 

 any possible use." 



Sidney Trist, editor of the Animal Guardian, 

 has written some splendid articles against this 

 practice. 



The American Field says : " The man who 

 tortures animals is a dangerous member of 

 society ; he is a degenerate, who would commit 

 just such crimes upon the human race were it 

 not for his fear of punishment." 



The late George T. Angell said : " I trust that 

 no person present this evening will ever be guilty 

 of such a crime against the horse and against 

 humanity." 



At the entrance to the railroad bridge at 

 Cologne an equestrian statue of the Kaiser was 

 erected ; the horse has a short tail. Several 

 American societies sent a petition to the Kaiser 

 requesting that the horse be made as Nature 

 designed it, urging upon His Majesty the bad 

 effect upon the future generation that would be 

 produced by such a conspicuous object. 



Not many years ago the late Duke of West- 

 minster, at a meeting of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society, moved that the practice be discontinued. 

 He was supported by Prince Christian, Sir Nigel 

 Kingscote, and many other noted horsemen ; 

 but, in deference to the fashion then prevailing 

 in England, the great society, whose object is to 

 improve our domestic animals, decided against 

 the Duke's humane and sensible proposal, and 

 endorsed the continuance of a custom as useless 

 as it is cruel. 



Mr. Watts, R.A., in the Times, said: "There 

 is degraded want of taste ; the harmonious 

 balance of the beautiful horse, the somewhat 

 heavy head, must be balanced by a full tail. 

 Setting aside the disgusting cruelty, this want of 

 taste which can prefer to see the noble animal 

 changed by the destruction of the fine append- 

 age into a thing that resembles the stump of a 

 worn-out broom ; and this is found amongst the 

 classes that boast of education and refinement." 



Sir Howard Vincent, in the House of Com- 

 mons, said : " The system of docking causes 

 enormous suffering to the animals, through their 

 being unable to protect themselves against the 

 pest of flies, and it was responsible for a great 

 share of the mortality among the horses in South 

 Africa." 



The Sporting Editor of the Toronto Sunday 



World writes: "The cruelty of docking and its 

 unnecessary character completely smother any 

 advantages gained by the practice, if there are 

 any." 



The Rev. J. G. Wood, in Horse and Man, 

 says : " The result comes from the rivalry of 

 grooms and coachmen. Mr. Brown's coachman 

 sees that Lord Kennaquhair's horses have their 

 tails docked, so nothing will serve him but to 

 dock his own still shorter." 



702. "Aims and Objects of the Toronto 

 Humane Society" says: "The practice is a 

 cruelty that lasts through life. The victims can 

 never afterwards brush away tormenting 

 insects." 



Terry, in "The Crime of Docking Horses," 

 says : " Who that saw the modern hackney com- 

 pared with a fine thoroughbred, and with an 

 unbiased mind, would hesitate for a second in 

 saying that the long-tailed horse was a beautiful 

 object, whilst the docked horse was a mon- 

 strosity and, in fact, disgusting?" 



Professor Alfred Savigear, in " Horsemanship 

 and Horse Training," says : " Docking is cruel 

 and brutal, which all who appreciate the horse 

 and understand him would be glad to see 

 abolished by law." 



W. Smith, in "Uses and Abuses of Domestic 

 Animals," says : " The operation is absolutely 

 unnecessary. The President of the Veterinary 

 College, who has condemned the practice, 

 demands considerable attention." 



Hayes, in "Veterinary Notes for Horse 

 Owners," says : " Men who dock their horses 

 merit the contempt of all horse lovers. Apart 

 from the stud question, a docked mare, especially 

 when ridden by a lady in a hunting field, is a 

 disgusting and indecent sight which should not 

 be tolerated in any decent country." 



Basil Tozer, in "The Horse in History," says: 

 "We need not look into the streets to be con- 

 vinced that we have not degenerated from our 

 ancestors, although His Majesty has endeavoured 

 to prohibit the practice by forbidding docked 

 horses in his army." 



E. S. Hamilton, M.R.C.V.S., in "The Stable 

 Manual," says: "A most dangerous and bar- 

 barous disfigurement that still exists in parts of 

 the country." 



703. The Daily Graphic says : " One of the 

 sights of the City is the . . . Lord Mayor's 

 four-in-hand, driven undocked and without 

 bearing-reins." 



The Toronto Sunday World says : " The usual 

 arguments, even to the most minor degree, can- 

 not be advanced in favour of docking, which is 

 a cruel fad advanced merely to save labour and 

 to give the animal a peacocky appearance." 



The Ottawa Free Press says : " The practice is 

 a relic of barbarism." 



The Chicago Record Herald says : " A docked 

 horse is defenceless against flies We should 



