THE TENDER MERCIES OF A HUMANE DOG.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SpRorATort.1 Sin,—Unlike the custom of the "dog of the Restoration" immortalised in Pepys's Diary, my gardener's little Aberdeen- shire terrier 'Wag' buries his cats alive I That is to say, he is known to have done it on one occasion some time ago, when he was caught in the act of burying an innocent kitten alive. ` Wag ' was busy filling in the grave, scraping the earth with care over the body of his mewing victim. The kitten was rescued just in time to save its life, and is now a handsome half-grown Persian tabby. When the interment took place it was quite young, only just able to toddle about. Whence the kitten had come, or what might have been ` Wag's ' motive, nobody knows. It was a stranger, and could hardly have been able to walk any distance. The dog is a queer little fellow, full of whims and fancies ; but so gentle that he wouldn't hurt a fly, and has an especial objection to killing anything. Even when his friend the black cat brings him a mouse, he will turn aside and let it escape unhurt. If he finds his way into the corn-box where a mouse or two usually resides, he will stand still letting them run over his back and head and dribble off through his long hair, without a sign of annoyance. I rather think ' Wag ' thought burying the stray was a humane way of getting rid of it.—I am, Sir, &c., "E. V. B."
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