CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2298, 31 October 1914, Page 5

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

I * ■ 1 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE S.P.O.A. I The annual meeting of the Welling- • ton Society for tho Prevention of l Cruelty to Animals was' held in the Cen- > tral Chamber of Commerce last eveni ing. The president, Mr. V. R. Mero- [. difch, presided. ' . ■ • 111 moving the adoption of the report • and balance-sheet (a summary of which ■ has' already been published), the chairi man said that ho could,-safely, say that i tho society had completed.' another [ year's useful work. There had heen a ' decrease in the number- of cases, pari ticularly in flagrant cases of cruelty, i and that was a matter for congratula- ' tion. It may seem strange in this ' age of boasted civilisation in a city ' such as AVellington that a society of - this character should exist, but it ap- > pirently was necessary, as cruelty ; could not altogether be eliminated. : They only had to look to Germany, ' which was looked to as the land of the ■ highest culture, and to note the reports i of the horrors they were committing— • horrors that even a savage would shud--5 dor at. The cruel were always with • them, which made the existence of such > a society absolutely imperative. The - only cure for such cruelty was the fear • of 'detection and punishment. The 1 fact that tho society did exist provided I a deterrent, and they could claim that <■ they were doing a public service, and I were entitled to a "greater amount of > public support than was accorded. There i were two ways in which tho public , could assist the society. One way was > to report any cases of cruelty which j came under their notice. He knew 1 that many people did not like being » dragged into Court, but no one need ■ fear anything of that sort, as ' any. anonymous communication would be inquired into, and any confidence, would be respected. Such assistance would result in a. great many more cases being > inquired into than now. The inspector ' could not be everywhere and see everyj thing. The other /way in which the public could assist was tho ohvious ono 3 of'providing financial support. It was 3 the financial side .of the society's 'affairs > as shown in the balance-sheet that was ■ serious. Had it not been for tho 3 £100 tho society had . received k from tho Macarthy Trustees last 3 year, . the expenditure would have 3 exceeded the receipts by about £CO. It r was regrettable that the contributions 1 should be decreased when'they should : bo increased, as it was clear that in u ' growing city like Wellington the so--3 ciety's activities should ;bo extended. 3 Tho objects of tho society were sucn that they must appeal to 'every, reasonf able decent member of the community, • and if each member brought the society *. under the notice of others he thought " that tho much-needed support would " be accorded. Last year thev had only 5 one collector, but this: year another 2 new one had been appointed in order 1 that the City could be canvassed more effectively. He was aware. that this year there were'a number of patriotic relief and distrees funds before the public, hut he would suggest that donations to those funds.should not be hi lieu but rather in addition to dona- " tions to the funds of the society.' ' Mr. R. H. Webb seconded the motion, and, in doing so, endorsed the chairman's remarks, and added .that as the society was doing a good deal ' of work that should rightly be.done by. ' the police, that it was entitled to a grant from the Government.- (Ap-, plause.) • The report and balance-sheet wore adopted. ' y .The following officers.were elected:— =; Patron, His Excellency the Governor; ■ president, Mr. V. R. Meredith; vicepresidents, His Worship the Mayor, '. the Hon. J. G. W. Aitken, Messrs. J* Ilott, W. Watson, J. S. Jameson, and R. H. Webb; committee, Mesdames Wakelin, C. Christie, C. H. Seville, A. - E. Kornot, A. E. Boyes, Miss E. Rich- - ardson, Rev. J. R. Glasson; hon. ' solicitors, Messrs. A. R. Atkinson, V. ' R. Meredith, R. B. Williams, T. y Young; hoh. auditor, Mr. C. D. Morl- peth. , . 1. Mr. Christie ' expressed the thanks r of the society for the excellent seri, vices they had rendered during the i. year, ■r — ■ ■ ■