[To the Editorf 0, — SPECTATOR.] Sum,--It is- good news
to many of us that the Spectator is directing attention to the fouling of pavements by dogs as " a nuisance which should not be tolerated in any civilized eduntry." • The nuisance is a real one, specially - to - those who use -the pavements at night. What is far worse is the debasement of public manners -which the nuisance implies. •
You-rightly express a hope that the public will co-operate with those borough councils which are taking action in the matter. Without such co-operation the councils are powerless; and yet it is lacking. Men shrug their shoulders and ask, " What can we do ? " The police do little or nothin , and when pressed express. the belief: that such by-laws as you mention cannot be enforced. In the meantime the women who are the chief.. hut not the only, offenders, carry on as though every lamp-post did not contain a placard threatening all sorts of pains and penalties to those who act as they are acting. -
There must be a complete change of public opinion before anything can be done. And it is to that end that I venture to hope that the Spectator will direct attention not merely to the immediate nuisance, serious though it is, but to the bigger quettions. involved. . • , Does the new factor of motor traffic necessarily involve fteline in public manners ? Cannot something be done by training to protect dogs against the dangers of the open street ?
What is the effect on the health and well-being of dogs in our big cities when they are kept so constantly on a lead ? On this point the evidence of veterinary surgeons and others who have to do with dogs on a big scale would be important.
Cannot more be done by the police than is done at present to stop what is so generally admitted to be a nuisance ? Are we not approaching a time when, owing to the steady increase of motor traffic, those who love animals will have to ask themselves seriously whether it is any longer fair on dogs to keep them in London and our big -cities under conditions so alien to their nature.—I am, Sir, &c.,
LONDONER.
[The problem is a very real one. Now that a by-law is in operation in many districts it is incumbent upon all good citizens to see' that- it is enforced. But the situation is not without difficulty. What is the public-spirited passerby to do when he sees the by-law being contravened. Should he go up to the dog-owner and ask his or her name and then report the matter to the nearest policeman ? What if the dog-owner is a friend ? Presumably his sense of good citizenship must outweigh considerations of friendship ? Is not this asking too much civic virtue from ordinary mortals? Perhaps some authority on legal matters who wants to see the law enforced can advise us.—En. Spectator.]
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