HORRIBLE CRUELTY TO A HORSE. 
725 
Somerset. The greatest interest was manifested in this case, 
in consequence of the high position the defendant held in the 
district and his reputed connexion with the magistracy of 
the neighbourhood. Mr. Sleigh was specially retained to con¬ 
duct the prosecution on behalf of the Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals, and Serjeant Ballantine was specially 
brought down for the defence. 
Mr. Sleigh in opening the proceedings, said he had no 
doubt that the Bench would receive, as he did at first, with a 
great amount of incredulity the statement of cruelty he 
should have to lay before them. It appeared from his in¬ 
structions that Mr. Taylor was a gentleman of large landed 
property in the neighbourhood, and that the society, in con¬ 
sequence of information they had received, sent their chief 
officer, Mr. Love, down to see him. Mr. Love called upon 
him accordingly, and having presented his card, and told him 
who he was, entered into a conversation with him, when the 
defendant admitted that the information furnished to the 
society was substantially correct, and that what he had done 
was done for the purpose of breaking the horse’s temper, and 
not with any idea of torturing it. Having alluded to the 
various sections of the Act of Parliament which defined 
what cruelty to a horse was, and what the punishment should 
be for such acts, he contended that if he proved that a horse 
had been kept for five days without food it would come under 
the denomination of cruelly ill-treating a horse, and subject 
the person guilty of such conduct to all the pains and 
penalties of the Act of Parliament. 
Mr. William Love stated that he was the chief constable 
of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 
and had been in their service for about eight years. In con¬ 
sequence of a communication which reached the society, he 
proceeded on the 11th of October to Southgate, and saw Mr. 
Taylor, the defendant. He said a complaint had been made 
at the office of the society that he (the defendant) had a horse 
tied up in such a manner that it could not lie down, and 
that, in fact, he was starving it to death. Witness said his 
instructions were to come to him (defendant) direct, and 
ascertain the facts, rather than make inquiries in the village, 
and give rise to scandal. The defendant then said ," Well, I 
will tell you all about it. This is a colt I have bred myself, 
and I sent it to London to have it broken in, but I expect 
that it got into wrong hands and got knocked about and 
spoilt. I found that it was most refractory, and I beat it till 
I could beat it no longer, for I found that if I beat it to death 
I could do nothing with it. When I found beating useless I 
