the Editor of the Norn-Cuawa Dancy News"
Sm—I read your comments on my letter, which you were good enough to print in the correspondence columns of your valued paper this morning, with the attention due 10 denunciations from the editorial chai In my mind's eye, I saw you, Sir, {in the country where the korait, venomous snake, used by you for the Durpose of comparison and example In connection with the dog question in Shanghai, is at home. You were walking, accompanied solely by. a. police dog and your thoughts, in the deep and dark jungle of India. 'The: dog was at heel. It cocked ike fine: jears of a sudden and came to a stop. 'Your attention being aroused by this signal, you likewise stopped, the more 20 as you heard a rustle in the undergrowth. There, within a' foot Jor two of your own feet, a korait slid accom your, path, coed, reared yead_menacingly preparatory to al tack. Your dog, ever mindful of danger to its master, manquvred, drew the attention of the snake self, made a lightning pass at the neck' of the reptile and, with its Powerful fangs, broke ite neck. The Jdog saved your life and it was only able to perform this inestimable service because it was unmuzzled, T do not wish to draw imagination to depict what would have happened, had the dog "been muzzled, but one thing seems certain, the korait would have been able to tie a further knot in its tail, by Jway of registering another victory. Jventure to think that, had the above incident any basis in fact, as far as! your person is concerned, your views! and opinions on the subject of the! police dog in particular would, probably, be milder than they actually) are. ' Let it be said, that there have any instances of police dogs ves and doing other useful and even inestimable services to members of the human family. To Jsondemn them, therefore, en bloc pot, in my humble opinion "playing marbles."
May I point out, that I have never opposed a reasonable application -of the muzzling order. I have even Jasked, as you will remember, the [Municipal Council, to deelgn an off cial muzzle, which will meet the requirements of the Council's own rules without inflicting cruelty on dogs. Let me, also, draw attention to the letters written, some time ago one "Sirius de Canieula" who pointed out that the real menace of Tables came from. roaming dogs, Jwhich come into the Settlement un: muzzled and are a danger not only: to the public but also to dogs which are licensed and are cared for, as they should be, by their owners. Your correspondent, as far as I remember, made a point of the fact, that as long as these works were allowed the freedom of the Settlements, so long would it be unfair to deprive owned dogs of any possibility fof defending themselves and,—possibly, their owners as well, by muzzling them. I can fully subscribe to the opinions of "Sirius." seeing that T myself wrote those letters and this the more £0, a5 the main efforts of the dog-catchers were, at least in the not too distant past, concentrated on obviously owned and licensed dogs and not on strays and works. If here has been a
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.