"THE DOG BEGAN TO EAT THE CAT; THE CAT BEGAN TO EAT THE RAT..."

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 243, 18 February 1944, Page 28

"THE DOG BEGAN TO EAT THE CAT; THE CAT BEGAN TO EAT

THE RAT..."

But Meat-Rationing Should Not Be As Bad For Your Pets As It May Seem

se HE only thing I’m worrying about," said the mother of one child, "is our poor cat. If meat-rationing comes in, what will he have to eat? And our Tim is so particular about what he does-eat. He won’t touch anything with fat or gristle on it and it’s no use giving him tough meat at all. This war is a nuisance." And behind this woman stand a host of other animal-owners anxiously wondering, people who would face life bleakly without their pets. According to a butcher we consulted, one outeof every two people who come in to buy meat, buy something for a cat or dog as well, which means that half the population must be thinking in terms of cat’s-meat. Advice from Australia In Australia, meat-rationing is an accomplished. fact. So perhaps pet owners in New Zealand will take heed of this advice published in the ABC Weekly (the journal of the Australian Broadcasting Commission): "Horseflesh is quite suitable for domestic animals. In fact many of them prefer it to beef and thrive much better on it. It can be given either raw or cooked. And the intestines from the sheep and cow are much higher in vitamin content than is the carcase. But if horseflesh and offal should be unprocurable, wholemeal, carrots, and the outer leaves of green vegetables, in addition to certain other substances, will keep a dog or cat in relatively good condition, The other substances are: bone ash or phosphate of lime, cod-liver oil, potassium iodide, ard a good iron

toni¢. Bone ash or Phosphate of lime, a small quantity of either being added to the food, will make up for any calcium deficiency in the restricted diet." Offal, so our butcher tells us, probably won’t be rationed. In _ fact, many careful dog-owners are already feeding their dogs on hearts. Horseflesh shouldn’t be rationed either. And what could be simpler, when you are cutting up salad, than to cut up a bit extra for the cat or the dog? Whether it will be as simple making

him eat it is another question, but with perseverance and tact a dog or cat should grow to love his greens-if they are liberally sprinkled with gravy. After all, most animals already eat grass when they are feeling off colour. England Solved the Problem England had to solve this problem four years ago, and England has always been considered the home of the doglover, According to News Review, Lord Woolton "first got dog-lovers growling by cutting livers and lights from the list of unrationed foods. Further meattation cuts set many of Britain’s 4,000,000 dogs staring at the lethal chamber. Even the most complacent of doggy people now realise that Adolf Hitler wages war on animals as well as on women and children. In the Greater Reich, 3,000,000 dogs "have been slaughtered." Unscrupulous owners in Britain have solved the meat problem by bribing the butcher, or by falsely obtaining an extra ration book. Heavy penalties await those who are caught. "Still obtainable for dogs is horseflesh and the meat of old cows. Though classed in Britain as unfit for human consumption, horseflesh is widely eaten on the Continent, and may become a delicacy in Germany. It is, however, doubtful if there are enough horses to feed dogs. A small amount of ‘unfit? meat is going round — carcases which have been left unclean too long

after slaughtering. Coloured green with a tasteless aniline dye to prevent human beings eating it, it looks and tastes the same to dogs, which are all colourblind." Farmers have been trying to persuade Britons to give up their dogs’ for more productive pets: But dog-own-ers were furious when a group of Yorkshire landowners passed a resolution urging that all dogs in large towns be destroyed and that the scrap now going into their mouths be used to feed poultry. (Contd. on next page)

(continued from previous page) One big breeder of pigs started to boost their charms. "Given the chance," said he, "there are no cleaner animals than pigs. They are as faithful and affectionate as any dog." An Alternative to Massacre An R.S.P.C.A. spokesman suggested an alternative to massacre of England’s dog population. Presenting an economical way of feeding which would not be a burden on the country’s food resources, he said that household scraps and vegetables, soaked in a gravy made from stewing bones, made as good a meal as anything else. "The Food Ministry does not want owners to destroy their dogs," a spokesman insisted, adding that there was no intention to ration biscuit. As far as the London Zoo goes, the main trouble with food is not so much the rationing as the expense. Fish has gone so high in price that one or two of the sea-lions have been lent to a zoo in the United States and the pelicans have been persuaded that lumps of horseflesh dipped in cod-liver oil are as good ag fish. New Zealanders, then, should take heart. Or if heart is hard to procure, they should still not despair. Cat-lovers should take no heed of the rumour that the cats are going to be killed to feed to dogs. We have it from the highest authority that this is not so. And we advise dog-lovers, when their dog comes bounding in as hungry as a horse, just to give him horse.