POISONED DOG

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 228, 19 May 1932, Page 6

POISONED DOG

QUARREL IN VENEZUELA ANNOYS BRITISH DIPLOMAT. Owing to a quarrel with the authorities over the poisoning of his dog, Mr. W. E. O'Reilly, the British Minister to Venezuela, is returning to England soon, said the Daily Telegraph on March 12. The Venezuelan Governnient has declared him persona non grata. In 1926 the Venezuelan health authorities, alarmed at the large canine population, and fearing an outbreak of rabies, ordered all dogs found without muzzles to be p.oisoned. ^ Mr. O'Reilly, who owned a fine Airedale terrier, urged without avail that it would be much more humane to impound stray dogs for a certain period and then asphyxiate them if they were unclaimed. When he found his own dog poisoned in the streets of Caracas on December 3 last, Mr. O'Reilly was highly indignant. Though the dog had no muzzle it wore a eollar plainly stating who was its owner. It is alleged by the Venezuelan authorities that Mr. O'Reilly carried of the Director of Health and dej ed it there with his visiting card, on which was written, "Here is your the body of his pet to the doovitep work." When he met the Director sof Health he is s£ated to have added that "the system of poisoning dogs was unworthy of a civilised country." Nothing further was heard of the incident in Caracas until Mr. O'Reilly reeeived a cablegram from the British Foreign Office informing him that the Venezuelan Government had requested that he be recalled. The message added that the Government accused him of saying "Venezuela is a country of savages." It is understood that the Venezuelan officials cited the testimony of four witnesses against Mr. O'Reilly. But although he pointed out un'officially that the witnesses must have rnisinterpreted his words, no move was made at Caracas to clear up the matter. Mr. O'Reilly, who was educated at Harrow and Oxford, entered the Foreign Office in 1896, and has since had a distinguished career. He first acted as Charge d'Affairs at Caracas in 1904, and returned there as Minister in 1926.