[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]
SIR,—I have just read in your issue of February loth the letter entitled " Cynomania," signed C. E. Vulliamy.
I am shocked at its contents, though I suppose at this time of world-mania such foolishness is what one might expect, for the sanity of many men is not normal. It ill becomes one of the species of homo sapiens to write of any other animal as " noisy, insanitary, unreliable and a creature of indescrib- ably nauseating habits," No animal could surpass man's own " nauseating habits " at the present juncture!
Man has often liked to describe his fellow-creatures as " Nature red in tooth and claw," yet no other creature in the world is as bloodthirsty as man has been and is showing him- self now. From the shambles of the perpetual daily slaughter of millions of fellow-creatures in all the slaughter-houses of the world ; the periodic slaughter of wild life under the names of " games " and " sports," to the massacre of his human brethren in warfare (the bombing of women, children, babies and refugees), and the ever-increasing gigantic schemes for the annihilation of man in future wars, man has shown him- self as the most murderous of all living creatures, both in action and intent, and the most stupid. For there can surely be nothing more stupid than for a race to prepare mass- suicide, such as the human race is now involved in. All over the world man is misusing his intelligence and devising more and more drastic means to destroy brother man.
Mr. C. E. Vulliamy considers that, " apart from the care of sheep and occasionally of houses, the dog has no justified existence." Does he consider friendship of no account? The sanity of thousands of lonely men and women has been saved by the fact of their having a dog-friend. Then, again, countless human lives have been saved through the action of
dogs. To take one species alone—the great St. Bernard dogs of the St. Bernard Monastery have saved over 2,000 lives. The intelligence of the Scottish Collie Sheepdog is renowned. The educated dogs of Germany have proved to all, except those who do not wish to learn, that animals have powers of independent original thought, reasoning and judgement, not very different from those of the human child.
Schopenhauer puts the case for the dog in a nutshell when he writes, " How could one get relief from the endless dis- simulation, falsity and malice of mankind, if there were no dogs into whose honest faces we could look without distrust."
The dog has throughout the ages taught the lesson that a furry body contains a living spirit which has understanding and possesses the virtues of faithfulness, love and devotion to an amazing extent. Such devotion as the dog has lavished upon man should not fail to win its way in the end, even with the most obtuse among mankind.—Yours faithfully,
NINA HAMILTON AND BRANDON,
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