CRUELTY PUNISHED.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 24 May 1910, Page 3

CRUELTY PUNISHED.

A LIOVIN* FA I'M 10 R FIX I'M) £5. j FOR ILL-TRFATING A HORXIO. A case under 7 H' the Police Ofi'i'iicv.s Act was Irniuv 1 . •it, the Magistrate's Court, Levin, tiiis morning, before .Messrs .T. McLeavey and CI. Cameron, -J.lVs. ' The defendant was Thomas M. Rums, niitl be was charged tint at Levin j oil the 28t.1i April, lie <... cruelly beat and ill-ttreat a horse. Constable Ragrie prosecuted, and Mr Blenkhorn appetvwl for tiro defeneo. Lionel Dixon, a farmer residing in Gladstone ro;:<l, and living within a low ok'iins of doinicile. said lie was on friendly terms Wiit'li him. On the d«v in question ho saw defendant thi'a.shiug a li::m» for some considerable time. After •' while the witness wjivt inside. When, lie came out he wwv that defendant had tied up tlve animal's l"g and was thrilling it so severely tlvif it was done mi. It w:'s in "a d;:ul sweat," a black swoat, and done riifht up. The horse hadbeen in witness's possession at one time. It was *< cmnll pony, of nature. Did not comsidier there was any need to give the lmrso such treatment as defendant gave it. Tt would make the horse worse. Samit bleeding from Itihe nose ns 'tte result of a kick defendant gnvo it. To Mr Blenkhorn : Was a-bout 200 yards away when first he saw the occurrences. Afterwards lio was

only a few yards away. The kicking nip and rearing of the horse cmiikcil its saddle to shift. AVould .\w\\.i- ho saw .Burns kkilv the liorse ■. .i -A\l" J lead. Did not know 'tkilb

.;;-.. horse kicked Burns. Burns „ ...s chasing tho horse round and round with a stock-whip. If a man was an adopt with a stock-whip ho could punish a horse very badly. Could not see what pivnislunoiit .11 iirue was inflicting; was too far away at 'that partieulair minute. Witness had tho horse for a day only. Would not put it in tho harrows K'lgaiu; it was too flighty. Could understand giving a horse a hiding; but would not abuse- it; he would not kick it on (the heuid, at any rate. If a horse was badily used it might show signs of it u day or two later. Tt was nearer half an hour than a quarter of an hour tliat defendant was knocking the horse about.

Harry Gill, driver of a buttcher's cart, deposed that on the day if? question ho sinv defendant, at about 12 o'clock, thrashing a horse with a, stock-whip. After a while witness again saw Burns thrashing the horse wTiilo its leg was 'tied up. Pant of tho time' a man held tho ropo whilo Burns used tho whip. The horse* fell over two or three times. Raw Bums kick the horse on the head and the back. Saw , him hit it with a rail; once he hit it -wiltii a piece of wood about eight feet long and once with a piece about four feet long. Would say that the thrashing went on for _ fully thiwqunnters of an hour. Did not think such a thrashing would do the horse any good, though .he recognised that reasonable use of a whip was necessary in some cases. To Mr Blenkhorn: Witness was watching Bums for the greater part of the threef|uarteirs of an hour. W.as only away while ho served 'two cr 'three"customers. That took him about five minutes at the outside. Did not. say anything to Burns, ihut lielieved tliat Dixon did. The wood with which Burns hit tho horse did not appear to Ire rdtten. He threw the first piece at the horse, after 1).. had hit, it with the piece, and then got the longer piece. Tt was not- true that witness had Ini<l the information. He had no grioyance against Burns, and he luad tola tlu> pofice he (witness) was sorry he had boon drawn into the case. _ Constable Longbottom said lie-in-spected the horse on the following Monday at the. Levin stables. 'Tt had a couple of marks on its head, which seemed to have been caused by a kick, and there was a cut about an inch and a quarter long and half .an inch or tiireequarters of an inch deep, near tine fore leg. The dofiMidiaiut told witness that tthehorse had kicked defendant, and that defendant then tied the horse up and "whipped it pneftty solid." To Mr Blenkhorn : Saw no other marks such as would have been caused by n stock-whip. Would not expect to see them two days after the occurrence. Tfc was 'possible tho injury to the leg had boom caused in a wire fence; the witness did not say how they were caused. THE DEFENCE. Tn opening the case for tthe defence, Mr Bl'enlYiiorn said the de-ft-nee was that -although the .horse had received a severe beating it had not received more than_ a- very refractory beast should receive as a corrective. Tlu'inns M. Burns, the defendant, gave evidence- that while fixing up the horse witness received a severe kick on the knee, which left him prestrate for some minutes. The horse was vicious and flighty, and witness, to cure him, got a young man to lend him around while witness flicked him with the whip. Witness' leg was so bad that he could onlv limp: therefore it was unreasonable to say that the whipping could have been severe. As "> matter of fact, his knee was injured so severely .that he had 4 o sleep with a, pillow under it- for re-ariy two weeks. Did not consul the gave the horse anything more than a severe heating, which his conduct warranted. ft was flighty, and it iiried to bite, and was incorrigible. The injury .to its leg was caused when it- yofc into a- wire fence.

To Constable Bagrie: Had givon the hor.su two beatings. Wu.s not :i passionate man; he was not a man who, when ho wa.s "put out." loit control of himself. After the pon\ kicked him, ho \n\s un.ili'e to punish it for a quarter of an .hour, b-r/ause his leg wa.s too bad. That w.iis th<! earliest opportuiiiity he had, Juki he considered it was of use thrashing it 'then. When witness wis iiiformod on the. Sunday foreu<.or that police proceedings wore threatened the horse wa.s loose. It wa.s let go on Saturday afternoon. Whoever told the police that the horse was kept 'tied up, without i'ood or water, until Sunday morning, told a. deliberate lie.

lit subsec|iieiit statements the witness weakened on this assertion:, :;iikl said that tho horse ought to linive hot*n let go. Ifis wife aix> himself spoke about ft-li-o matter, and if tin; lior.se was not let go he could not say why. Could not l»c positive lhat instructions wore given to let tho horse go. So far as his knowledge went the horse was let go on the same afternoon ; ,he said lo .Mrs Burns, after balking the matter over, ''Yes; lot itHie brute go." .Might havo sand, in Lis wrath. th;*t ho would keep t'he brute tied up for a week; when a m.an was hurt he did not consider what lie said. Alfred Xansoll, employed at the Levin stables, said 110 saw the horso in the staltles, and did not notice anv marks of ill-treaitment on it. to Coii.sta'ble Hagrie: If the pony was worked (piietlv there was no trouble in getting the harness on. If a pony was thrashed it would raako him worse. William John Brown, who was ,"ii ployed by defendant, deposed that the pony in reference was vici; us. On the d«y menltioned it s/'ked .Mr Burns as he was putting - i the harness. The kick madoMr i'i irns lie down for about ten minu'es or a quarter of an hour. Mr !?■irns was a kind, considerate mast; r and fairly so to Lis stock. Had :ei one or two occasions seen .him ;'i..al hardly with sheep «.iul cattle. Witness was newly out from tho Old Country, and" had not had previous experience with stocky Wiitri' l\ss certainly received no mstruc'ions to lot the pony loose on tire Saturday; he was absolutely sure of tliat.

10 Con?Jtablo TCagrie: Saw def.ndflnii kick tho horse, Unci ' Raw !ilio(l crane fmm its Tiose ; _ That was caused either by the kicking 'or by defendant striking it with the handle of a stock-whip. Mr Burns ' ,- fc tire horse go on Run,day inorntnn;; he was positive it was ■ Mr Brims ■who !eifc it go. That was stftcvr lie had .hoard from witness H"vt- steps hy the police wore- .being ' 'i ken. The decision of the hencli was that 'turns must be convicted- of tiho ■ Hrge. He was fined £5. and, orred to pay court costs (lis). T ? je> \'y'ihiessos in tho case did not claim expenses.