Historical data

[Guest guest]

I have just been reading " Some Observations on Animal Care in

the Orient, " by Richard Hathcock, director of public relations,

Los Angeles SPCA, published in the October 1951 edition of The

National Humane Review.

 

The latter was a monthly magazine published by the American

Humane Association, from some point in the late 19th century until

1977, of which I have a complete set from 1933 to termination.

 

Hathcock's lead:

 

" Rabies is rampant. Animals are beaten, eaten alive,

starved, overworked, and viciously slaughtered. Few are kept as

pets. Millions of dogs, gaunt and savage creatures who never know

any food but the meager scraps of garbage and refuse they manage to

pick up, run at large. Rare is the voice raised to protest the ill

treatment of animals; rarer still is the hand extended to aid them,

though here and there in the welter of fanaticism and opposition,

some valiant individual labors to better the lot of unfortunate

creatures. "

 

Hitchcock spent three months traveling in Asia.

 

" Only Singapore, of all the places I visited, is blessed

with a working humane society, " he wrote.

 

His other stops included Yokohama, Kobe, Tokeo, Osaka,

Kyoto, Nagoya, Niroshima, Moji, Shemonoseki, Hong Kong,

Kowloon, Manilla, Bugo, Cagayan, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh,

Bangkok, and Jakarta.

 

" Slowly, painfully, the Tokyo Humane Society, dissolved

during the bitter war years, is being revitalized, and plans for

reconstructing the buildings, razed by firebombs, are being

reconsidered, " Hitchcock reported.

 

" Chief protagonist of the present humane movement in Nippon

is 71-year-old M. Tanagouchi, titular head of an Osaka trading

company which imports and exports wild animals, " wrote Hitchcock.

 

Apparently knowing that this might raise some eyebrows,

Hitchcock added, " Nearly all animals clearing Japanese ports for

either European or American zoos pass through his hands. This is

fortunate, for this venerable gentleman makes certain that these

caged and crated creatures are adequately prepared for high altitude

flying or lengthy ship travel. When a shipment of wild animals

leaves Yokohama, Kobe, or Moji, there is no overcrowding, no lack

of ventilation, and ships' officers are furnished with complete

printed instructions for the care and feeding of the beasts en route

to their destinations. "

 

Hitchcock went on to describe Tenagouchi's influence in

rebuilding Japanese zoos after World War II, " constructing modern

moat-encircled areas of display, abandoning old-style barred cages

and cramped dark quarters. "

 

This was well before the same revolution in zoo design

reached the U.S. and Europe.

 

In Hong Kong, Hitchcock found that World War II had

completely obliterated all traces of the Hong Kong SPCA, which had

long operated shelters in Hong Kong and Kowloon, under Dorothy

Ho-Tung. Mrs. Ho-Tung died in 1949, failing in her ambition of

rebuilding the organization.

 

Her son, Walter Ho-Tung, was a general in the Chinese

Nationalist Army, stationed in Taiwan, and " is known to be

definitely interested in humane work, " Hitchcock wrote.

 

" At present, city dog shooters are employed in Hong Kong, "

Hitchcock noted. " There are few cats in Hong Kong...Rabid rats and

dogs are common. "

 

Rodents rarely carry rabies, because rabies tends to kill

them before they can transmit it. From Hitchcock's description of

the Hong Kong situation, my impression is that the rats were not

actually rabid, but were the primary food source for the abundant

street dogs, who were the primary rabies reservoir.

 

Decades later, after Hong Kong eliminated street dogs,

which was probably accomplished more by traffic than by any amount of

dog-shooting, cats predictably replaced the dogs at the bio mass

ratio of about three cats for every dog who otherwise might have

occupied carrying capacity.

 

The growth of the Hong Kong human population increased the

carrying capacity, while the advent of high-rise construction suited

cats much better than dogs.

 

In the Philippines, Hitchcock witnessed dog-eating, extreme

cruelty practiced toward water buffalo, and cockfighting.

 

In Singapore, Hitchcock observed and strongly praised the

work of Singapore SPCA founder R.A. Clemons, who had begun the

organization in 1948. Her humane education auxiliary included 5,000

young Singaporeans.

 

The Singapore government dog-shooters killed 9,152 dogs in

1950, and the SPCA dog-shooters, who shot only rabid dogs, killed

695.

 

The Singapore SPCA picked up 2,232 dogs within the city,

2,534 dogs outside the city limits, and 329 cats. City workers

captured 14,566 dogs.

 

Fewer than 500 animals were adopted out.

 

Most of the cats were killed with ether. The dogs were electrocuted.

 

The toll of about 31,000 animals altogether was more than

three times the volume of animal control killing in Singapore in

recent years, at a time when the Singapore human population was

under two million, compared with nearly 4.5 million now.

 

The Singapore SPCA was also trying to improve conditions at

caged bird shops, of which there were 11, and trying to half doping

at the Singapore horse racing track.

 

Hitchcock concluded by noting and praising the roles of Hindu

and Buddhist temples in Singapore and Bangkok as defacto animal

shelters.

 

" The gates to these weirdly carved religious edifices are

never closed, " he wrote, " and any animal who wanders in, sick and

hungry--dog, cat, pigeon, cow, goat--will find food and water,

and will not be interfered with in any manner. "

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

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Fax: 360-579-2575

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Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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