16 



THE CUBA REVIEW 



HUMANE WORK IN CUBA 



In Havana nothing so attracted our at- 

 tention, not even the beautiful Prado and 

 the public square and the line drive along 

 the sea, as the excellent condition of the 

 great majority of the horses and mules. 

 Hundreds of light, four-wheeled cabs are 

 moving about the city day and night. 

 Step out of almost any shop or house 

 or hotel and one is within sound of your 

 call. Many of these vehicles are drawn 

 by unusually well-fed, well-groomed horses 

 that give every evidence of kind and gentle 

 care. The larger part, by far, have horses 

 that are in good flesh and that appear to 

 be well used by their drivers. The poor, 

 lame, broken-down old cab horse is the 

 exception, generally the property of some 

 old driver whose horse is wearing out 

 with its owner. 



As to the mules, none finer are to be 

 found anywhere than are in Havana. The 

 decorations on the harnesses, the polished 

 'brass trimmings, the sleek, fat, comfort- 

 able, contended-looking teams that were 

 seen by the score, were a constant source 

 of delight and positive pleasure. Not an 

 overdrawn checkrein on horse or mule did 

 we see anywhere, or could we learn any 

 one there had seen. The most of the 

 drivers, the moment the team, whether of 

 horses or mules, stops, get down and un- 

 check. When one neglects it, a word to 

 him from a passer-by will nearly always 

 induce him to throw off the check, so per- 

 sistent and untiring are the efforts that 

 have been made to call attention to this 

 act of kindness. 



The chief sources of cruelty to horses 

 and mules are to be found in the methods 

 of transportation from the country dis- 

 tricts into the cities and then back, heavy 

 loads of produce and freight being carried 

 both ways, and in the system of omni- 

 buses that run often in competition with 



A heavy wagon load of lumber seen on Havana's 

 streets 



The mules of Havana with their feasting har- 

 ness are handsomely decoiated. There are none 

 finer anywhere. 



the street cars and often to places un- 

 reached by the trolley. Here only con- 

 stant watching and prosecution can pre- 

 vent the use of badly galled, lame and 

 worn-out animals. There are stories of 

 noble service that might be told of brave 

 women riding all night in some of tl- se 

 vans, accompanying them back into the 

 country, for only so could it be made cer- 

 tain that the vans would go back empty, 

 and some unfortunate horse or mule not 

 compelled to drag a heavy load when 

 hardly able to walk or so badly galled 

 that every step would mean suffering. 



The laws of Cuba grant all needed pro- 

 tection to anim,al life. Xo one demands 

 better law, only its enforcement. To 

 awaken public sentiment and keep it 

 awake, to get people to be hun-ane_ nd 

 stay humane, this is the object of the 

 lovers of this cause in Cuba. 



