THE TRAFFIC IN OLD HORSES.
[To THE Emma or 21,8 ..SrscrArok."] Sia,—I note with pleasure that you are opening you• columns on this subject, which, in spite of all that was done by the Press to help us in the agitation some four years ago, is still a matter for urgent reform. Though the Board of Agricultnre in their last Annual Report of the work done by the Depart- ment under the Diseases of Animals Act (which was introduced and carried through on behalf of this Society by Mr. George Greenwood and other Members of Parliament who are animal friends) state that the traffic is now carried on under greatly improved conditions, and though Miss A. M. F. Cole, in the . letters recently published in your columns, while describing the horrors of the traffic, also says that conditions have improved, it must always be the wish of every real lover of animals to see the traffic in hoe decrepit horses ended altogether. I am glad to say that last Session we were able, through the kind eo-operation of Captain the Hon. Arthur Murray, M.P., to introduce a Bill into the House of Commune, which passed its second reading, whereby the shipping of live horses of a value of 210 and under• would become illegal. This Bill, it is hoped, will be reintroduced during the coming Session of Parliament, and I feel sure that all the Members who love animals, and also wish to remove this blot from our country, will co-operate with Captain Murray in adding the. Bill, as an amendment to the Diseases of Animals Act (1910), to the statute book. The Bill, if passed, will not interfere with what may be termed the legitimate trade of the foreign butcher, nor with the food of tba foreigner who cannot afford the ordinary but high-priced meat consumed by his richer neighbours, nor indeed would it be a hardship (though they need hardly be considered) on the dealers who have hitherto made their money by the sufferings of the animals, nor on those shipping companies that have increased their profits at such a cost. Basing the calculations on the Report of the Board of Agriculture for the year 1912, which is the latest
issued, the number of horses of a value of £10 and under shipped during that period amounted to 44,911. No one would necessarily think that each of those horses was the victim of needless cruelty owing to infirmity, age, or bad treatment; but, seeing that the traffics is a winter one, and the elements are therefore most unfavourable, one can estimate something of the suffering that would be prevented if our hopes were realized. It rests, therefore, with Members of Parliament to pass this Bill, while the general public can help by interesting their Members, either personally or by letter, no as to enlist their sympathy and co-operation before Parliament meets—I am, Sir, &a,
EDWARD G. FAIRHOLW, Chief Secretary, B.S.P.C.A.
105 Arm yet Street, London, S.W.
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