26 BULLETIN 260, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 
with some person, and wherever conditions call for it should be kept 
in leash. When away from home the dog should be muzzled with a 
reliable metal muzzle, not with a strap muzzle that would be cruel to 
the dog if tight enough to be effective and which is usually so loose as 
merely to give a false sense of security, since it permits the dog to bite. 
In regard to laws requiring muzzling and other restraints, 
Schroeder * has made the following interesting comment : 
The reason why laws of this nature have not been made is clue to the active 
fight against them by a small, greatly interested minority that opposes a tardy, 
disinterested majority. The minority fights hard for a privilege it has long 
enjoyed and abused, that of allowing dogs to be at large without restraint at 
all times, and the majority has never half realized that this privilege is costing 
a high price in the destruction of property and in horrible agony and numerous 
deaths. * * * The dog owner who knows what rabies is from experience, 
if he has the proper consideration for his own welfare and that of his dogs, 
will be among the first to demand a movement for its suppression, even if this 
should place restrictions on the freedom of his own dogs. His interest is 
greatest because he has the most at stake and is himself most seriously and 
frequently exposed to the infection. 
As means or adjuncts for attaining the conditions outlined here, 
numerous measures have been suggested and, to some extent, practiced 
in this country. Some of these measures are cited in a paper by 
Stimson, 2 and a very good summary has been given by him. Among 
the possible measures are, of course, the imposition of a license on all 
dogs, dogs so licensed to wear an official tag with at least a registered 
serial number on it, and possibly with the owner's name and address 
also. Any dog not so licensed should be taken up by an adequate 
impounding force and humanely killed. Dogs so licensed should be 
taken up when found astray in violation of ordinances requiring 
muzzling or imposing other restrictions. Babies should be made a 
reportable disease everywhere, and prompt and thorough measures 
taken for its eradication, to be followed by quarantine against unre- 
stricted importation of dogs into clean areas. Castration and spaying 
are recommended as aids in keeping a dog at home. They also serve 
to stop the promiscuous breeding which serves to add recruits to the 
vast army of worthless and vagrant dogs. Dr. Arbuckle, in recom- 
mending castration, says that it does not diminish the animal's value 
as a hunting dog. 
Protection from the dangers of improperly controlled dogs depends 
primarily on the education of the public and the development of an 
educated public sentiment. With public sentiment behind it any re- 
1 Some observations on rabies. By E. C. Schroeder. Bureau of Animal Industry Circu- 
lar 120. 1908. 
3 Facts and problems of rabies. By A. M. Stimson. Hygienic Laboratory Bulletin 65, 
1910. 
