New Britain Herald Newspaper, March 11, 1927, Page 27

BarDogs, Cats A Well Known Physician Urges Their Banish- ment 1o Remove a Serious }Menace to Human Health and Also as a Kindness to the Animals ICTURE, in your mind’s eye, a city where the only living creatures are human beings. A city that has banished horses, cats and dogs, cows, pigs and other useful and friendly ani- mals along with rats, mice and sundry undesirables of low degree. Such a place would seem strange, in deed, but Dr. Clarence W. Lieb, a New specializing in disorders omach and intestines, emphati- s that our would be better, safer places to live in if they were just like that. He would rid every populous center of all the Fido’s and Tabbies and Dob- m in such great num- bers to the seemingly inno- cent pigeon would be barred, if he had the authority to stage the great clean-up bins that are in th agrees with him that a mouseles community is 3ut why ban the and to be desired. creatures that for centuries ess for their they be nd cats—friendly have hob: and given a deal of happ! i ? Why should y limits? says Dr. Lieh. cities would be without them, much filth around. especially in closely congested ar where thousands of people keep artments and hotels, For several reaso: First of all, because much healthicr Dogs 1 places ogether too them in houses, & declares the physician. The problem of dogs in cities is, to my mind, a serious one,” says Dr. Lieb, “for it is known that they are carriers of certain parasites that can be trans- mitted to man. The dog tapeworm, for ex. . The bacteria that thrive in the intestines of many dogs are a posi- tive danger to human health. “These pets clutter the public high- ways with unhealthy filth that dries and is blown the wind to be breathed into the lungs of every one. Thousands of city dwellers keep dogs penned up in small apartments. Often these dogs are sick and old. They are wheezing and sneczing around on chairs and beds and rugs, spreading infection that gets onto the hands and into the clothing of adults and children. “Kvery city has its quota of people who are nervous and sick, and the yap- ping and king of dogs aggravates their unfortunate condition. Dogs roam- ing the streets of a congested city even on leashes hamper traffic and cause more than a few accidents. “But if it is a menace to public health—and I know that it is to have so many dogs in thickly populated areas— the situation is also cruel from the dog’s point of view. It is natural for a dog to run free out of doors, to eat food other than the scraps left from a city dweller’s table. “Most dogs that are kept in large cities are cooped up in houses and apart- ments most of the time ard are taken out on a leash for a few minutes’ exer- cise every day. Some dogs seldom get out into the open air. This is downright cruelty to them. “I myself am a great lover of dogs, and I think the world of the English bull pup I have at my home in Pinecrest- Hudson. But if 1 move into New v, T will not bring him with me. te that my suggestion about by On the left, the torturing muzzlewhich most citiesre- quire dogs to wear when they appear on the streets Albert Payson Terhune is one of many dog lovers who think it cruel to keep dogs like these or others of any great size in a city to ban dogs and cats from will raise a great hue and cry among own- ers of these pets. People will talk about their rights and howl about America being a free country. But such opposition would be short-sighted under pres- ent conditions. The ob- jectors should think less of themselves and more about the public good and the good of the animals themselves.” Dr. Lieb does not con- fine his objections to dogs and cats in our large cities entirely to the matters of public health and humane- ness. He carries the ques- tion into the field of so- ciology. “This silly pampering of dogs and cats has undoubtedly taken the minds of many women off the important matter of ma- ternity,” the physician states bluntly. “1f many women didn’t have animal pets to fuss over they might be interested in loving children of their own, or giving a little thought to some of the great number of unfortunate little waifs that stand so much in need of care. “I dare say that the money spent on dogs and cats in New York City in a single year would be more than enough to build and support for some time a 2,000-bed children’s hospital.” Dr. Lieb regards the cats as every bit as undesirable as the dogs, and is all for barring them from every urban area. *As for being necessary to catch rats and mice,” the doctor argues, “I think one good rat trap would do the work of The horse, according to Dr. Lieb, is a nuisance to himself and every- body else in the busy traffic of a great city several cats. And it doesn’t cost thing to feed a rat trap. “Most cats are unsym friendly animals, anyway. the companionable nature of But the important thing is that they, too, are germ carriers. Their fur is an ideal lodging place for dirt and it is possible for them to pick up and peddle the bac- any- i un- haven't dog. Capyrignt fever and 1t my finger at particular cat and definitely s it it browsed outdoors with and the at brought a hu- down with diphtheriy that is nece . It is'a matter of common knowl- around me man 4 but not mong the medical that animals ers of Fexsion 4 discase germs. As for t Lieb i horse, Dr es him in the a feeling , for he ap- precia t the horse did a great deal of Americ e hard work of beca al means of transportation and Gt tainly other e still modern #nd wel g b cheme of things,” the doctor point jut in the busy traffic of a he is a nuisance. Ile holds and has a p! v tough nd on the hard pave- nt 2l 1S @ that he unot always get food and water when ds it. * horse-drawn vehicle is the one > troublous and increas- big city. It fow people urban might : a hard horses from rested areas, but i ot bar every the good of ber is an inconvenience some one. ieve that the traf ired up 25 per cent if the horse were 15y stroam of automo “In York for-instance, | oblem would be ot out of the b dogs — twenty-eight Diagrammatic view of one of New York City’s many dog - infested streets. The circled crosses on the upper side- walk indicate the location of disease-spreading filfth left by disgusting heaps by actual count on one side of a single block length of street. Similar conditions on thousands of miles of streets throughout the country produce what Dr. Lieb thinks a serious menace to the bile traffic that fills our streets, cially in the business sections. “It is an almost daily occurrence to see a dead horse or two on the New York streets, and I Lave seen such carcasses laying around almost in a state of de- composition. Such things are far from an aid to public health.” Dr. Lieb would go after the filthy discase-spreading rats with rat squads armed with the most effective of extermi- nants. He would try to prevent rats from landing off ships and place a bounty on their heads to spur public interest in espe- exterminating them. To state words, D in a few from all the Lieb would rid ¢ four-legged animals and wo two-legged creature—the pigc “The pigeon,” he says. thing that besmirches our practically every city building. In Venice pigeons are something of an institution and are tolerated for reasons of senti- ment, but we have no such excuse for allowing them to disfigure our most beautiful strrctures and add to the great and unwholesome total of animal filth that is blown about the streets and breathed into human throats and lungs “One public health official has exti- mated that fully 80 per cent of the dust that is whisked around in the air of our cities is animal filth full of all kinds of bacteria dangerous to human health. T believe this is true. There is, to get back to pigeons, a form of bird tuber- culosis and there is no proof that the disease is not transmitted to man.” In an article recently published the “New York Medical Week,” Dr. Liebh stated his conviction tha should be done to rid New Y thickly populated areas around i menace of animal filth, “If human welfare is of primary im portance in present- methods of pre- ventive medicine, there is much to be said in favor of expelling all four-footed animals in New York,” gan, and he got immediately of explaining the dog menace He made little of the wakcful nights that dogs baying at the moon many citizens, or of the 4,000 Yorkers who were bitten by dogs in six months’ time, but he emphatically ob- jected to the animal filth distributed “on the sidewalks of New York-—East Side, West Side and all around the town.” Dr. Lieb fully realizes the tremendous difficulty of convincing millions of city dwellers that their pets are a serious proposition. is a dirty parks and nd the of the article be- to the job cause New public health A cat’s fur is an ideal lodging place for dirt and the germs of scarlet fever, diphtheria and other con- tagious diseases menace to the public health and securing the legi ry to limit every city’s p an beings and birds. B at the danger cre- ated by the presence of animals in our congested areas justifies such a crusade. Albert Payson Terhune, the famous £ breeder of blue-blooded collies, would not go so far as to bar all dogs from cities, but he does think that ity is no fit place for a large do He not knowingly sell a dog fror s to anybody who home. neces: writer dog stories and his kenne plans to give it a ere is in New York City,” says Dr. A haven for struy animals which f course, established with the best of intentions. Lost pedigreed dogs and curs of every hue and breed are taken there to be washed and fed and pro- tected from harm. Hundreds of nomadic cats are likewise taken there to live a happy existence with fellow felines. “I suppose that the milk of human kindness started and operates this haven, I do not like to see dumb animals suffer, either, but I believe that it would be much better for the cats and dogs, and a worthwhile saving of mon these creatures o are doing no one a servation of life in to put of the w, Such con- 9 ew York and other cities is, to my mind, ment.” The ¢ appreci love misplaced senti- tes that children the houschold pets ir large cit T a time, Is around is that cities that he r from and that they would, having such ani gestion miss His sug- set off a space in ! cats and even horses can be comfortably housed, just as wild animals are kept He would parks where dogs, n zoos to-day. ve the various breeds of S, too, on exhibit. espe: n ex “These ally interesting be- come into closer com- panionship with man than any other of the beasts,” says Dr. Lieb. “It is, in a unfortunate that the modern metropolis s no place for them, but it sn't. “Public and in pls dogs and ¢ f are s have way, health is a scrious business es where thousands and thoy- nds of people live and work in a com. paratively small area everything possible should be done to make life safe and clean. I believe the time has arrived in New York and other cities when disease- carrying animals and the unhealthy filth they leave around should be ruled out®