Patea R.M. Court.

Patea Mail, 30 June 1881, Page 3

Patea R.M. Court.

Tuesday, before Mr C. A. Wray, R.M. CRUELTY TO A MARE* Patrick M’Loughlin, contractor on railway formation at Kakaramea, had been summoned by the police for cruelly overworking a mare. An unwilling witness named Collopy, who had been employed by defendant, was summoned to give evidence,, He had worked the mare, and saw its shoulders were just skinned a little by the harness; He worked her three or four days after that, and then turned her out. Otto Haase, livery stable keeper, said : The mare was brought to my stable June 2nd. for curative treatment. The off-side shoulder had a wound 6 inches long, covered with dried skin. You could lift up the skin and see the raw flesh. On the near-side shoulder was a wound 3 inches long. On the top of the wither, dry skin covered a wound from the mane nearly 8 inches long. All the wounds had been treated with blue-stone water. I have treated the mare since June 4th,. and now the. near-side shoulder is perfectly well. On the top of the back, a square of 5 inches is still sore, like raw beef. I could see the bone there when I first took the scab off. I have had experience in horses nearly twenty years, but I never saw anything like this. I attribute these sores to over-work and neglect. If turned out, the cold weather would hurt tbe sores a good deal. The mare must have been worked with the sores some time, or they could no£ have been that size from after*neglect. The mare looked poor and miserable in flesh when brought tq me. There ought not to have been the scabs on if she had been attended to. Defendant ; Don’t you think the frost did that ? Witness ; No, not that much. . Defendant : What sort of condition would a horse be in, supposing it was turned out with the skin off ? Witness : The sores would not be so well. Defendant; Don’t you think she, was in very good working trim ? Witness: No ; she has improved wonderfully, but is not in working trim even now. Magistrate : Suppose the mare to.have been left out some days before she was discovered, would that account for much? Witness ; The frost could not have well got at the sores because of those scabs. The wounds were bad in themselves. That one at present on the wither is about 6 inches long. Magistrate : Should you consider it ,a proper treatment to work the mare in harness with the skin So broken ? ■ . Witness ; No, not with sore shoulders. Sores like these are from hard work and neglect: Magistrate ; The driver says he had the mare at work three or four days after he noticed her shoulder. Haase : It could not bo merely skinned, because the fleSli was actually gone. It was half an inch deep in places on the wither. When I have worked horses with sore shoulders I have chambered the collars.

Constable Ciw.icr deposed to the wounds. A portion of the flesh was gone, and the top of the shoulder was quite hollowed. PatrickM’Loughlin, the defendant, said: I obtained this Trinre from Mr Gillighan, and let him have one that was too light for my Work.j About a' week afterwards, I told Gillighnn the collar he gave with the mare was injuring her. He did not seem to take any notice. I told him I should have to put one of my own on it ;• that I would not work her with the one she had. Two days after that I met him and said I would net work the mare any more, and asked him to give me another horse. He sent Mulvihill with another horse, .and he took the marc away. Next day Gillighan came to the works and said he had lost the mare. On the evening of the day following he sent for me to look at the mare. She did look very bad. She was turned out four days without washing. I said the frost has got into her sores, but he would not let me wash her. He said I should take the mare at such a; price, but she was not worth a third of the money he asked. ; Magistrate : When did you first notice the mare had a sore shoulder ? Defendant : I noticed it two or three days befojre I turned -her opt. I ibelieye she was worked two or three days after the sores were there. I have often worked horses in a worse condition, with worpe shoulders. I am told this mare has|a very rbtteif skin, and it; is very bard to keep her right. I can bring witnesses to prove that. Magistrate : What state was the mare in when Mulvihill took her away ? Defendant; I could have cured her myself in three days. Magistrate : How do you account fbr her being in ~ this very bad state afterwards ? Defendantby turning her out and not taking care of her ? Magistrate : What have you done to her ? i ■ ; < Defendant : I had attended to her night and morning. Why did you not, her off work directly you saw her sores ? ' Defendant : They were not very bad. It was not very hard work, not full loads. Magistrate : I suppose you get as much out of your teains as you can ? Defendant; Yes. Magistrate ; After this mare returned to Mr Gillighan’s land she seems to have been turned out in very cold frosty weather, and got lost ; and not having been attended to partly explains the bad state she was in. Although that may mitigate rhe offence, it does not exonerate the defendant from his conduct. Offences of this kind are punishable with six months imprisonment without option of a fine, at the discretion of a Magistrate, or a penalty not’exceeding £2O. rln this ;case I shall impose a penalty of 40s and costs 14s. The money was paid; .. ■ .