CRUELTY TO A HORSE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3058, 20 February 1892, Page 2

CRUELTY TO A HORSE.

At the Resident Magistrate's Court, at Hamilton, yesterday, before Captain Jackson, R.M., John Cross was charged by the police with cruelly and unmercifully illtreating a hor.se on the 14th inst., between Hamilton and Whatawhata, by stabbing it on the neck and body. Mr Hay instructed by the Socioty for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, appeared for the prosecution, and Mr R. W. Dyer for the defendant, who pleaded guilty. Mr Hay said the casti was one of moat inhuman cruelty, and tie was sorry to have to insist that the full penalty be inflicted, as anything short of that would be inadequate. He then called George H. Carter, who said ; I saw the defendant on the evening of the 14th inst., in the Commercial Hotel. I also saw a horse belonging to the Telegraph Department in the yard: it was in «n injured state, having wounds on its body. They were stabs made by some instrument, presumably a knife. I discovered two cuts on the hindquarters and three or four large ones on the neck. Those on the hindquarters were where the skin on the belly joins the leg, (mst the last rib. The horse was covered with blood on the off side, and was bleeding at the time. The horse fell dovVn two or three times and those present assisted me in raising him up. Constable Murray came aloDg whilst we were attending to the horse ;he took charge of it. My opinion was that it was a "toss up" whether the horse would get over its injuries, as it had so little strength. In reply to Mr Dyer, witness said he thought the horse would live now, but it would be difficult to say what the future effects would be. To the R.M.: I laab saw the horse on Monday evening, after it had been washed and dressed by the police, If the animal had not been properly attended to it would never have recovered. The wounds on the forequarters are halfway between the saddle and the ears on the off side, where all the wounds are. These wounds could all have been made by a person sitting in the saddle I counted the wounds next day, and found twenty-six, large and small. They could all have been made by the same instrument. Ail that I counted on Sunday evening were bleeding; some were clotted. I took charge of the horse when he fell down. It was then tied up to a wiro fence. The hurse, which was bleeding profusely from the hindquarters, fell down again. Defendant was not sober, and was uot in a fit state to attend to a h °John Donovan, the groom at the Commercial Hotel, said; I saw defendant on the evening of the 14th inst. The horse was handed to mo by Mr Carter, who told me to look after it as it was wounded. I took the horse ; but when I saw the blood I tied him up to a fence, and meant to have nothing more to do with it. 1 went into the hotel and told Cross his horse was outside wounded, and that he had better fake it away. He came outside, and we found the horse lying down. I was asked to cover the horse over with bags where ha was. There w« blood ou the ground where ue

was standing. I saw Mr Carter administer some stuff to the horse. I counted about 24 or 2o wounds altogether. Some large, but I do not think very severe. They were done, I think, with a small pen knife. I did not measure any of tho wounds. 1 was there when Constable Murray arri\cri ami asked Cr-sa if it was his horse, and Cross said " Yes." Defendant was asked if ho had a pocket-knife, and ho said three or four. The constable asked to be shown them, and Cross handed the knife (produced). I noticed traces of blood upon it, the same as now. The wounds could not have beon inflictod by tho big blade of that knife. _ T , Cross-examined by Mr Dyer : I last saw the horse about an hour ugn ; ho is a lot batter. My opinion is he will recovar. Re-examined by Mr Hay : I do not know whether the horse would have recovered or not without attendance. To the Bench : I did not see defendant rnine into tho yard or upon the horse. Cross did not attend to the horse, but wanted them to take it sway, but did not tone.! it. The horse did not seem fit to be taken far. Constable Murray deposed : I saw defendant on the 14th mat. He was standing alongside a horso belonging to the Telograph Department, which was lying down in the Commercial Hotel yard. I examined tho horse as well as I could by the light we had, it being about 11 o'clock. Ho appeared to me to be in a terrible state from the wounds and loss of blood. Alter examination I saw the horse was so bad that I thought of getting authority to destroy the animal. At this time Mr Carter administered some whisky (he had given some previously) to tho horse, and this revived him somewhat. I then got Constable Stanton's assistance, and we put tho horse into a loose box. Before obtaining assistance 1 took the pocket-knife (produced) from defendant. There were traces of blood on it, and also hair. I asked defendant how it could have occurred, and he said he had no knowledge. It must nithor have been done in the Commercial Hotel yard, or else at Whatawhata before lie loft. I left early the next morning for Whatawhata, to make enquiries, and I picked up tho trail of blood outside the yard gate, and had no difficulty in keeping it in sight whilst cantering for about two miles aiong the Whatawhata Road, when it suddenly stopped, and I could find no further trace. The wounds could have been inflicted by tho knife produced. To the Bench : The defendant was in a muddled state, but was not drunk enough to lock up. although perhaps he did not know what he was doing. I examined the wounds when I came back from Whatawhata, and found about fifteen m the neck more or less severe, and behind the saddlo there were ten in about eight inches of space. A person sitting in the saddle could have inflicted the wounds ; in fact they could hardly have been done by anyone 6 *To Mr Dyer : Defendant told me he had come from Raglan that day, and Whatawhata that night, having left the litter

place at about 5 o'clock. Mr Dyer then addressed the Bench at great length in mitigation of sentence. He said the defendant was a line man, employed by the Telegraph Department, who had been in the service for 28 years continuously, and that he had risen high in the esteem of his superior officers, and there was not a single black mark against him by the Department. The man had told hiin that he had ridden from Raglan to Whatawhata, and from the latter place to Hamilton, but had not the slightest recollection of what had occurred after leaving Whatawhata. In civil matters a man when drunk is not held responsible for his own actions, but it was different in criminal matters. If a man gets so drunk for the time being that he is a madman, it is hard that he should be responsible for his actions. He would ask the Bench to notice how foolishly the man had acted in taking the horse into the Commercia,l Hotel yard, whereas had he been sober and in his rieht senses, he would have taken the animal up to his own house, or paddock, where he would have been less likely to have met anv people than in the Commercial yard. His own actions showed, that the man did not know what he was doing. He felt his responsibility greatly in pleading guilty for a man who did not know that he had committed an o(fence, although from the evidence of the prosecution there was no doubt as to who had dune so. The defendant was always riding about from place to place, and with his experience of horses, it is hardly to be thought he would have acted in the way he did, had he been " compos mentis, ihe moral to be drawn from this was that the liquor sold to that man must have been of the most abominable kind, as no good liquor would have driven the man to a state of idiocy that that stuff did. The police had lone their duty in bringing this case on and he hoped they would not rest there, but that thev would come down upon this selling of adulterated liquors. He would conclude by saying the defendant was a capable man, and all are human and liable to err For 26 years he had been in the Department, and that ho had commanded the respect of his superiors spoke volumes for him In consideringthe sentence he would ■isk the Bench what the mental feelings of the defendant had been from Sunday evening up till the present time, as ha and his family were well known throughout the district. The horse was a small one, and had come a long distance,and possibly lay down on account of being tired, and he thought that the wounds to a fresh horse would not have had the sair.e effect. [The Magistrate said goading on a done up horse by ill treating it was an aggravated offence.] Mr Dyei "'charles Harwood who gave evidence as to defendant's character, also his treatment of horses which he had hired from witness, and which he had always returned in good order. H. Logie, postmaster at Hamilton, also gave evidence to knowing defendant for about twenty years, and of always having found him an honest and trustworthy servant. He stood high in the opinion of the department by whom he was reckoned an efficient servant. He has been in charge of the lines running to Te Aroha, Huntly, Cambridge, Kawhia, Raglan and Alexandra for six years. ... , , In reply to Mr Hay, witness said he had never heard anything against Cross officially, but perhaps might have heard that he took a glass of beer. ... t -j The Magistrate in passingjudgment said, the case was one of the worst which had come under his notice, and dumb animals must be protected. The defendant was convicted on his own confession and fined £15, and co»ts, £5 15s 6d.