Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Cruelty, Crime, Disease

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

    Discusses the enquiry into the attempt by a Hyde Park constable to kill a dog that was apparently suffering from hydrophobia. Presents an extract from the policeman's testimony, which reveals that the dog had bitten him and that he had then attempted to tie string round the dog's neck. Presenting the case of a person who had contracted hydrophobia after being bitten by a stray dog in Hyde Park, the author notes that the judge concluded that, while the constable was 'no doubt doing his duty', it was 'monstrous' that dogs should be 'destroyed in the face of the public', and he accordingly fined the constable. Punch is furious that a judge could 'fine a man half-a-crown [...] for putting a dog to death', a penalty 'far too small [...] for killing a dog wantonly and cruelly'.