xiv] 



OPINIONS ON DOCKING 



181 



" But you don't disfigure me, you know," the dog 



derisively said, 

 " Why, you bound me fast and trimmed my ears 



down close to the top of my head." 

 So they let him moan and they let him groan while 



they chopped his ears away, 

 And they praised his looks when they let him up, and 



proud, indeed, were they. 



The New York Herald says: "One of the 

 fastest trotters ever converted into a high stepper 

 is Dr. Pitsen. Judge Moore paid $9,000 for this 

 grand-looking horse, and he is now to be seen 

 nearly every day in Central Park, docked, nicked 

 and in heavy harness, with heavy shoes on his 

 feet." 



Dr. A. G. Hopkins writes to Captain Hayes: 

 " During a winter stay in Chicago standardised 

 horses with fast records are procured, docked 

 and their tails set up, and when they get great 

 growth of foot and heavy shoes, the Anglo- 

 maniac buys them and shows them in the high- 

 stepping classes." 



The Ottawa Evening Citizen says : " The 

 capital is proud to boast of having at least three 

 veterinary surgeons who have refused to perform 

 the needless and cruel operation." 



General Smith, D.S.O., in the Veterinary 

 Journal, says : " Fashion and appearance take 

 the place of utility." 



The New York Commercial Advertiser says : 

 " There sit their coachmen, looking down from 

 their boxes on the lacerated stumps at the one 

 end of their horses, while the other end is jerked 

 up in the air." 



The Detroit Evening News says : " One of the 

 worst of all the fashion manias is the docking 

 of horses, now practised in defiance of the law. 

 It is the relic of the days when bull-baiting and 

 dog-fighting were national sports." 



The Rider and Driver (N.Y.) says : " It is no 

 exaggeration to say that some of the tails were 

 to all intents cut clean off, for not more than 

 four or five inches of the stumps were left, and 

 these scraggy stumps were made to look more 

 absurd by being shaved and heavily singed." 

 This refers to the International Horse Show. 



Our Dumb Animals says : " It is clear that the 

 owner of such animals does not care one straw 

 for the suffering of dumb animals." 



Farm Life (London) says: "It is surprising 

 what little attention the protest made by Prince 

 Christian against the practice has received in the 

 Press. This is much to be regretted, because it 

 is only by wide condemnation of this barbarous 

 practice that the public will be sufficiently 

 aroused." 



The Animals' Friend says : " Let all horse 

 owners refuse to purchase animals that have 

 been so mutilated." 



The Daily Graphic, in referring to a prose- 

 cution by the Royal Society for the Prevention 



of Cruelty to Animals, London, says: "The 

 practice is most cruel, and robs the animal of 

 its protection against flies." 



705. Many of the Canadian and United 

 States papers have had large headings against 

 this practice, such as : " Duke deplores the dock- 

 ing of horses " ; " The docking of horses is 

 childish, and the law should be amended"; 

 " Practice of docking horses severely con- 

 demned"; "A relic of barbarism." 



The Hampshire Chronicle said : " The sale of 

 these fine, undocked horses resulted in most of 

 them being disposed of. ... This shows that 

 undocked horses for hunting command top 

 prices." 



The Sporting and Dramatic News (London) 

 says : " In the winter, when the long tail is not 

 required for fly protection, it can be plaited up 

 to keep it clean. The horse will then not be 

 deprived of his most essential weapon." 



The Toronto Daily Star says : " As long as 

 show horses are docked, horses will be tortured, 

 docked, and then nicked. The operation is, how- 

 ever, nothing compared with the loss of the 

 tail." 



Our Dumb Animals (Boston) says : " From 

 numerous articles published in the Press, it is 

 evident that the practice is rapidly growing 

 unfashionable. The Governor-General of the 

 Dominion is opposed to it. His long-tail four- 

 in-hand is much admired by everyone. The 

 Veterinary Director-General and three of the 

 leading surgeons of Ottawa have declared them- 

 selves against the practice. It is certain that the 

 hat-peg is passing, and that even now it is not 

 countenanced by owners of fine horses and those 

 who take pride and pleasure in them and have 

 the sense to understand their needs." 



The New York Bit and Spur says : " It should 

 be noted that under a new law it will be im- 

 possible to sell foals of this year in England if 

 they are docked." 



The Times says : " Docking is much less com- 

 mon than formerly. The courts, indeed, have 

 held that it constitutes cruelty. It is admitted 

 that the practice often results in the spoiling of 

 a good horse. Mr. Walter Winans showed, a 

 short while ago, that a normal horse was a 

 guarantee of greater safety for rider and driver." 



706. The Reducine Company, of Dublin and 

 New York City, in a most excellent book, just 

 issued, on the modern care of horses, says : " We 

 do not believe in docking horses ; we believe 

 that God knew how to make a horse. We believe 

 that the tail is necessary, not only as a protection 

 against flies, mosquitoes, etc., but to add to its 

 beauty. 



"The dealer can take a bad-tailed horse, 

 and by docking and other cruel practices make 

 the horse appear of good breeding. We wish we 

 could carry every person who reads these lines 

 with us to Central Park, New York, and show 



