Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 83.djvu/592

588 my acquaintance recently received, in addition to his fee, a very substantial check from an appreciative client to enable him to use anesthetics on animals whose owners would not pay for it.

This brings us to a very troublesome subject in the protection of animals, namely, the disposition of worn-out horses, homeless cats and dogs and the hopelessly injured. The humane impulse is to destroy them at once. This, so far as we can determine, is the proper course to pursue. It is believed that death is preferable to continued suffering. The question arises, how shall the animal be destroyed? Individuals, and even societies for the prevention of cruelty, frequently impose a method of execution that is not always the easiest for the animals to endure. The insistence upon the use of some anesthetic often imposes upon the animal a more disagreeable death than a well-directed bullet would cause. Yet we often find this and other methods of painless destruction excluded. It would seem that when it is decided that an animal is to be killed the method should be chosen that will give the least suffering.

The slaughter of animals for human food is a disagreeable task, but one that must be performed so long as meat is used. Many investigations have been made to determine the method that will dispatch the animal with the least fright and pain. The conclusion prevails that with cattle at least the most humane method is to stun them before bleeding. This method is observed except in those packing houses where for religious reasons the methods of the ancients are still observed. It is gratifying to note that in one city through the efforts of the humane society and the federal meat inspection, many of the cruelties of the "Kosher" killing have been minimized. In justice to the large packers it should be stated that they welcome any improvement along these lines. If we are consistent in our contention that domesticated animals should be cared for in a humane manner, should not their slaughter, which is for man's benefit, be as easy and painless as it is possible to make it? With the development of new knowledge and better methods many religious rites have been modified. It is hoped that in the near future the Jewish methods of slaughtering animals that have been handed down from early days to the present may in like manner be subjected to certain revisions. As I have already stated, the cruelties of the method have been minimized in one city. Certainly these changes should be made general. Our people can not be too much in earnest relative to the enforcement of methods of slaughter that will protect as far as possible innocent animals from unnecessary pain. This applies not only to the procedures in the larger packing houses, but also to the small butcher and the individual owner who now and then kills animals for food. In the method? of all these there are opportunities for improvement.

In the protection of animals there is need for a more efficient