[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Sus,—No one is
likely to suspect the Spectator of indifference to animal suffering, but I cannot help feeling some surprise at the absence of any reference to this aspect of the question in four article of July 15th. The plight of the unhappy animals in a crowded cattle boat during a stormy passage across the Atlantic is surely not a matter to which the Spectator can be indifferent? Any humane man, whatever his views on the question of Free Trade, should, I cannot but think, desire to stop the importation of live cattle from Canada or any other
distant country.—I am, Sir, &c., H. C. I.
[We are not indifferent. We have always assumed that it is possible to ship animals humanely. Of course, proper care for the animals should be scrupulously insisted upon not only by the law but by public sentiment. Unfortunately, there is only too much room for improvement at present, not only in the shipping of live stock but in the methods by which animals are slaughtered. Humane methods of slaughter are perfectly well known, but they are not generally adopted.—En. Spectator.]
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