CORRESPONDENCE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVI, Issue 3575, 9 October 1916, Page 4

CORRESPONDENCE.

CRUELTY TO SHEEP.

A ST«UX(; PItOTEST.

To thk Eimoii "Guardian."

Sir, —I ask .^.pjice through tlie medium ol' your valuable columns to explain tin; cruelly that goes on <year alter .year no all tlie leading saleyards, and no one sooms to make any move in the direction of getting this sorv of thing put a stop to. What I refer to is breeding owes being brought to the saleyards and placed in dirty, dusty pens for .sale hy auction at a time when they are due to lamb or are lambing. With the doMn< of obtaining a little more money for:- their sheep, farxnerp and dealers brim.;;, their ewes into • tKo , sales when they are right on lambing, with jtlie resuit that the" ewes arc lambing during the whole time they are in the yards, and the poor 1 "dumb" animals have co - drop their lambs in - a heap ,of diiht and manure,'.iu"i whistla . ease they cannot lick and dean theit offspring, .nis is natural for them to do. Not only this, but both the weakened owes and the newly-born lambs are often badly trampled by-the balance of the sheep'injlu' pen/ At the Addington sale on September 20 a 1 line of ewes and very young lambs were sold and were" trucked.* and on thoir arrival a-t Ashburton three of the lambs wcro dead; tlu-se sheep wuiild be in the . trucks at least 2-1 hour*. Then, again, for the last, Tinwald sale there was a lino of ewes put- in the saleyards paddock on Monday evening; several of

them ]fimli«'U during, the'night, ami when they wi>ro ynnied up for salo on Tuesday om» ewe hinibcd in tho pens and two of the c\ros \v«rp up and down ■ overj' few ifunutns endeavouring to lamb .and no on<« \o jissist them.

Now. if this sort of- thing is not v crying shame, I will admit that J.knownothing about stock. I drew.the attention of two leading farmers, to th& Ja.st instance on the Tuesday, and they said that it ; was really a disgrace. There is absolutely no excuse for anyone, as all farmers .have.'day and date-, when their owes arc due to lamb, anil it. is quite time the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to" Animal made an example of such cases where hhmi, have no fooling for dumb animals. I will refer you to two of our leading-jffi'-mers who attend Addington evcrf jwonk—that i\, Mr T. Dowliric and Mr . James Cow—-mid ask them vif jH-liat t ' is'av is ,not 'absolutely • correct.' . It is (rot the first > time wo have .spoken ;'abont'ewe*, 'ainbiiiix i» dirty saley:irds:. A. J. KEITH. : P.S.—My friends }»nd myself are 'prepared to find the money for the society to prosecute and make an example.—A. J. K. ' ' Ashburton, October 7, 1916.' • ' -*.