HOME FOR LOST DOGS. 
595 
Many of them get run over, and otherwise severely injured 
from time to time, yet nobody is found to offer them a 
shelter. To add to their misery, no benevolent person has 
hitherto been able to prevail on parishes to furnish troughs 
containing water for ther use, in public thoroughfares. And 
yet nothing is more easily done. At the base of every “ drink¬ 
ing fountain” might be left an opening to contain waste 
water enough to supply all possible canine demands. There 
would then be no necessity for issuing official orders to 
destroy “ mad dogs.” All the dogs want is—water. But 
as this is denied them, they go mad. Every parish ought to 
be held responsible for the consequences of neglect in this 
matter. The evil would then soon cure itself. 
If any persons feel interested—and every kind-hearted 
person ought to feel interested—in the matter under discus¬ 
sion, let them listen some morning, whilst on their way 
hither and thither, to the conventional cry of “ dogs' meat !” 
At the sound of the great man's voice, they will see dogs of all 
kinds and conditions suddenly appear. Where they come 
from is a mystery—nobody knows. Where they go to is 
equally mysterious—nobody cares. They always do appear; 
always come to smell the savoury meat; always get a kick 
(or two); always linger in the distance, and finally vanish. 
That “last fond look 99 ■—have you ever seen it, gentle reader ? 
I have. Only a few days since, I heard the well-known cry 
of “ dogs' meat !" I raised my office window and looked 
out. Below I saw—oh ! such an original dog among the 
nondescript group. He was a compound of all sorts of dogs, 
finished up behind with a tail like the “ brush " of a fox. His 
legs—1 imagine they were legs—hardly exceeded in length 
some two inches, while his body was unduly long. There he 
stood. The “ last fond look ” was on. The sight was over¬ 
powering. “ Give him,” shouted I, to the man, “ a penn’orth 
—all to himself.” Amazed, the man of meat, evidently unused 
to this sort of thing, did as he was told, and poor doggie went 
to work with a hearty goodwill and no ceremony. He had 
earned his breakfast. He had often smelt it. Little did he 
ever expect to taste it. May my example add largely to the 
future consumption of dogs’ meat! It is a gratifying treat 
to assist in feeding a starving dog. 
Let the words I have just written introduce us at once to 
the “Home for Lost and Starving Dogs.” When 
this benevolent institution was first established (October 
I860), nearly everybody made fun of it. “Dogs, indeed !” 
cried one; “what a shame to waste money in this way!” 
The press led the way—the people followed in the outcry. 
