[TO THE EDITOR OP TUC "8PEOTATOR..".1
SIR,—With regard to the letter in your paper of October 24th on " Dogs in Quarantine," I think it right that it should be known that I left two dogs in quarantine at the veterinary surgeons' recommended by the Department of Agriculture (Messrs. Arnauld and Arnauld, The Kennels, Mitcham), and that they rejoined me three months later in splendid condition. Their state reflected all the more credit on the management as the regulations of the Department are, I presume, neces- sarily so severe that it must be very difficult to keep dogs fit who are limited to solitary walking about in a small yard for exercise as the only break in a day's confinement in a cage. I gave no tips, and on my visits to the poor animals no hints of any kind were thrown out. The only room for reform, I think, is in the relaxation of the rules. At present these seem far too inelastic. I was able to produce a certificate from the principal veterinary officer of Singapore that no case of rabies had occurred in Singapore, from which Colony I brought my dogs, for ten years, and I thought this entitled them to an abridgment of their quarantine, but they were treated just the same as dogs who came from a Colony where hydrophobia was raging among the natives. If regulations are always to be interpreted in this cast-iron fashion, it seems unnecessary to take any trouble to pay officials highly to do any thinking.
We cannot publish any more letters on this subject.— En. Spectator.]
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