THE DOG POISONER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8086, 17 April 1906, Page 2

THE DOG POISONER.

TO TUB EDITOIt. Sib, —I see by a paragraph in your columns that the dog poisoner has been at work again, and some little onbs are mourning the loss of a loving playfellow, and their parents that of a faithful friend. Thanks to Mr 'Pippins, there is less excuse now for removing

dogs from a cruel death by strychnine —that is, I think, the poison used; although until lately tho dog nuisance in New Plymouth was well-nigh maddening, and one could scarcely wonder at people laying poison, as there seemed nothing else to be dono. Even now there are a lot of dogs about the streets, and perhaps it is not surprising that poison should be resorted to. For instanoe, female dogs are allowed to

run at large, and the result is simply intolerable to any decent-minded person. Then people bring their dogs into tho heart of the towu, and allow them to lie about the streets and light and get into everybody's way, and cabmen and milkmen and expressmen and grocors', butchers', and bakers' boys are

accompanied by their dogs, and tko country people bring their dogs to town, where they are worried by town dogs, and get under tho wheols of vehicles and bicycles. Of course, the basy streets of a town are no placo for dogs, and it is enough to annoy anyo.ie, but that is no reason for poisoning the dogs. It ,s the owners who are to blame, and who should be pun- '. iahed. Only the othor day I hoard a woman, after rescuing a little dog from a handsome, but quarrelsome, St. Beri uard dog that was growling about ' town instead of being kept at home as : he should be, say to her little girl, who i was sobbing at the sufferings of hor t injured pet: " Oh! the groat cowardly brute ought to be poisoned!" But mere selfishness and thoughtlessness of ; the owners should not be the cause of . a cruel death to the dog and grief to , the children who love him. The fault [ now seems to be that of the county j authorities, who are not enforcing the j Act as Mr Tippins is doing, aud it is a great pity that he was not appointed their collector too. I would suggest 1 that whenever a dog is seen in the • street without one of this year's collars '. on, tho person whom lie is following 1 should be at once summoned for a • breach of the Act. Most likely the 1 dog will be a registered one, and the • owner too idle and careless to put the collar on, just as he is too idle and il careless to keep the dog at home; but j he will, even then, lose time at Court 1 and be put to a lot of trouble, and g«t t no expenses and have only himself to n blame, as a dog without a proper col- \ lar on is by the Act to be considered prima facie as an unregistered dog, and r the person it follows as the owner of ' the dog. This would teach people to r keep their dogs where they should be ' kept—at home.—l am, etc., "A Loveu of Dogs."