MENU FOR A HORSE

Hokitika Guardian, 28 October 1931, Page 6

MENU FOR A HORSE

BROWN BREAD AND FRUIT RECOMMENDED. AUCKLAND, October 26. What kind of food should be served to a horse'whose front teeth are worn I down to tli© gums?. The menu de-| tided on after a long discussion in the Police Court was, “Soaked brown bread and fruit,” two or three times a day. It was suggested that perhaps a I little molasses and chaff and oats could he given just to vary the fare. } This information was gleamed during the hearing of a case in which <* man and a woman, John J. Richardson and Annie A. Gerken, appeared before Mr F. K. Hunt, S.M., charged with permitting a. horse to work while silt* fering, and cruelty to a horse. Mr Rice appeared for defendants and pleaded not guilty. | Chief-Detective Hammond prose' cuted.

Abraham Lincoln Stokes, who said lie knew something about horses, said that on September ]1 lie saw the horse in a wretched condition in Karangaliape Road. It was cruel to work the horse with its teeth in such a bad condition. It could not even bite ordinary grass. Inspector Hollingwortli, of the SO' oiety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said lie examined the horse at defendant’s farm at Mount Roskili Its condition was so poor that it was not fit to work. He had warned Mrs Gerken and she had promised to feed her animals properly. She had bought a bushel of oats and a sack of chaff to feed three' horses. Defendants also kept coivs and pigs. When Richardson went into the box to give evidence, Mr Hunt asked: “Do you think this horse was fit to work?” —Yes. “Well, nobody else* does.” The Magistrate turned to the woman defendant and said: “You are not fit to have animals to look after.” MV Rice: It is not by her choice that she lias these animals. They were left to her bv her father. Mr Hunt: Well, she can sell them. Mr Rice: There* is no chance of pLfit. Air Hunt: Well, let her give -them to tlie Zoo. Roth defendants were fined 62 each.