In regard to the last, which has up to recently been a public scandal, the Society is now able to report that new regulations, limiting the number of pigs to 45 and men to four that may be carried on each truck, have been instituted and enforced in the French Concession, where. the ' Inspector sees that injured pigs landed from ships are taken direct to the abattoir and killed, instead of as formerly being taken to pig yards, or lairages, and kept alive indefinitely. In the International Settlement, all jured pigs are shot on the pontoons immediately on landing by an officer of the Public Health Department, thus saving them any further suffering. The Society also reports that during the past month all the bigger private pig lairages in the French Concession have installed watering and feeding troughs, and animals which may have gone several days without food and water while being transported to Shanghai are given these necessities of life, As it has been noticed that pigs are still arriving in Shanghai suffering from bad burns, the Society's Inspector has visited Nantungchow, whence most of them are shipped, to investigate the conditions that prevail before shipment and a report on his visit will be issued in due course. Several of the shipping companies engaged in this traffic have installed improvements for the comfort of pigs in transit as requested by the Society, while much valuable ce-operation has been accorded by the Public Health Departments of the International Settlement and French Concession, This is greatly appreciated by the Society's officers.
The condition of ponies in hire carriages in Shanghai is causing the Society much concern, the monthly report states. Those now employed in this city are found to be in a parti. cularly poor condition as a result of over-work and under-feeding owing to the present increased cost of fodder. The owners of some of these wretched animals are themselves more or less destitute refugees from such areas as Nantao, and the plight of their animals is pitiful in the extreme, Many of these worn out animals bear brands which show that they were once race ponies which have been sold off when no longer fit for the "Sport of Kings" to end their days in misery. The Society's officers during June visited all hire stables in Shanghai, noting the brand numbers of such old race ponies, taking photographs and supplying salve for those suffering from sores. No doubt they will be only too glad to supply any Shanghai racing men with these numbers and photographs. so that they might possibly recognize and rescue some old friends.
The Cat Question Many stray dogs and cats, as well as cast out kittens, have been picked up and suitably disposed of by the Society's officers during the past month. With the advent of summer, as is usually the case, there has been noticed a considerable increase on the streets of unwanted kittens. Thi: is traceable to two sources the preli fieness of Shanghai's large population of semi-wild eats, which the Public Health Departments are loath to destroy owing to their value in destroying rats, and the custom of the Chinese of throwing out litters of unwanted kittens instead of destroying them at birth, The Society suggests that something might be done by the general public to keep down this high feline birth-rate by keeping only castrated male cats. The public may also assist materially by taking all emaciated, diseased or injured stray cats and dogs to the Gordon Road Kennels or to any of the veterinary surgeons affiliated with the Society.
Perhaps the most flagrant case of cruelty brought to the notice of the Society was that of a cockatoo in a pet shop. This wretched bird was
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.