|
South Eastern Gazette, 20 November, 1860.
MAIDSTONE PETTY SESSIONS.
AN "Amiable" Dog.
TUESDAY. (Before C. Ellis, Esq., Mayor, H. Argles and E. Stacey,
Esqrs.)
James Deer, milk vendor, was charged with having cruelly beaten a
dog, the property of Joseph Epps, landlord of the "Prince Albert"
beer-house, Sandling-road.
Mr. Goodwin appeared for the complainant, who said that on Thursday
last he was at the shop of Mr. Holloway, opposite the barracks, and
his dog, a small one, was outside, when the defendant came along and
gave it a severe kick, which caused it to howl for a quarter of an
hour. The dog was a very harmless one; it did not fly at defendant.
To corroborate this statement a little girl named Merrony was
called, and said she saw the defendant kick the animal, which was
sitting very quietly on the pavement. She had known the dog nearly
three years, and it had never bitten any one to her knowledge.
William Wood, baker, said the dog had "not a particle of
viciousness" in it; in fact, if it were his, he would drown it, for
it had not got "cheek" enough to take its own part [laughter].
Sergeant Hills also spoke to the harmlessness of the dog.
In answer to the charge, defendant said the dog was not fit to be at
large, and it was always flying at passers-by. He should not have
kicked it had he not thought it was going to fly at him. It was "a
common phraseology" in the barracks that "Joe Epps’s dog knows every
policeman in the town" [laughter].
Edmund Cohen, a Jew, said he had never seen the dog bite any one,
but it frequently made "very good attempts" to do so [a laugh], and
he was "sometimes in the humour to catch hold of person’s legs." An
old man like defendant could not kick it hard enough to hurt it - it
was one of those rough wiry Scotch terriers. If the dog were to fly
at him, "he would cut its head off, and put it where its tail was"
[laughter].
Edward Chalklin and William Dale also said the dog was a very
spiteful one.
Mr. Goodwin said he had got a certificate signed by a large number
of persons showing that the dog was very quiet.
Mr. Ellis:— To show that the animal was an amiable one [laughter].
The magistrates said that, as that part of the evidence relating to
the dog in this instance not flying at defendant was uncontradicted,
they must fine him 5s. and 15s. costs.
|
