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Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 403, 14 November 1868, Page 7

A short method of disposing of an intolerable nuisance in the streets of Westport would be to obey the dictum of a celebrated poet, and to " throw physic to the dogs." We do not mean that we should dispense with the local dispensaries, or with the amiable gentlemen who keep them. We mean, rather, that the administration of the most potent phj'sica they possess would be the most speedy method

of terminating the existence of a number of quadrupefls whose utility is extremely doubtful, however closely they may approximate the ornamental in streets which are not otherwise very densely populated. But the shortest method of abating a nuisance is not always the safest. An indiscriminate application of strychnine, and a quotation from Shakespeare in support of such an expedient, are not sxactly the description of logic to bo " pitted" against the critical acumen of Dr. Giles. It is a prime principle in communities where mere might does not constitute right, that no man is at liberty to take the law into his own hands. Anrl, in a community living under a Government like that of Nelson, to take such a liberty would be as ungracious as it would be illegal, for, in all conscience, that Government has provided ample facilities for legal remedy in the maintenance of proper relations between dog and man. Wo have just concluded—we confess, not without a slight sense of fatigue—the perusal of the Province of Nelson Dog Nuisance Act. People have previously heard that such an Act is in existence, and they have also been informed that it is only necessary for the majority of the inhabitants of such a place as Westport, for instance, to express the wish that it should be enforced, when itfwill be enforced, both by proclamation of the Superintendent, and by practical exertions on the part ' of the police. But people have imagined that there may be some clauses in the Act which, if it were once introduced, might become as great a nuisance as the dogs themselves. Now, a perusal of the Act, by anyone who will uudertake to peruse it, either in the interests of dogs or his fellow-men, will remove that idea altogether; and, if he is like-minded with us, would eventuate also in the removal of dogs. The only clause in the Act bearing upon anyone but the quadrupeds themselves, is the clause legalising the charge of 10s a year from each dogowner, for the purpose of registration, and for the protection of their favorites from the destruction which might overtake the vulgar and unregistered canine erowd. And, surely, ten shillings is not too much to pay for a" dog which is at all worthy of being kept, especially when he receives a collar or a ticket, and when his number, his name, his marks, and his breed—wherever " breed" may be discoverable —are " entered in a book kept for the purpose." And more especially still when it secures for him such amenities as the following—that whosoever takes his collar or his ticket off shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding £5 ; that if he is " seized by a constable, or by any other person and brought to the nearest constable," he shall not be ignominiously hanged as a common cur, but shall be " kept exposed to view in some public place appropriated for the 'purpose," for at least fortyeight hours; that he shall be there kept " at the rate of sixpence a-day," without any limit as to the number of scraps given to him by the constable on his own account; that he shall be given up to his master, or to any one who takes a liking to him, on the repayment of sixpence a-day and forty shillings ; and that if even a constable skould knowingly seize him contrary to the provisions of the Act, that constable shall forfeit even the same sum of forty shillings aforesaid. "With such protective it would be unreasonable to suppose that any man would be so dogged, or that any dog would be so unmanly, as to venture to complain of the paternal interest taken in them by the Nelson Government. It is only real bad dogs that are to be otherwise than well treated in Westport if the Act should come in force —dogs which shall be " known to be dangerous;" dogs which shall be found " biting or worrying live stock." The first class must be " muzzled," or killed ; and even here the feelings of the dog are considered—he must be " killed by a constable." A dog of the second class may be killed on the spot by the man on whose property he may be trespassing ; and, if he should be so killed, there is no one either of his kind or his country-men who would not return the verdict " Served him right." Of course all curs that have no claimant or are not worthy of even a constable or any one else fancying, become subjects for strychnine or rope-yarn; but even these become public characters by being kept in a public place for two days, and by being, like other and greater criminals, well fed during the last hours of their lives.

Altogether, the Act must have been framed by one who is as much the friend of the dog as the dog is the friend of man ; and rather than that the streets of Westport should present such a striking contrast to the streets

of Hokitika, Greymouth, or Nelson, and that night should continue to be mado hideous by tho howling of unsauctified and unregistered brutes, we should recommend the inhabitants, by memorial, to invite the proclamation of the Act. It is possible that it may be made only to apply to Westport, and the digger at the Caledonian -or Addison's may enjoy the society of his dog to his heart's content. Even in Westport no one would be liable to the penalty unless he had resided in the Province for ten days.