Animal cruelty is sadly not a thing of the past. This court case from August 1915 shows how inhumane some people can be when working with animals.
Police Constable Abraham was on traffic duty on the morning of 19 August at Patricroft Bridge near Eccles when he saw Arthur Craggs, 20, driving a horse heading in the direction of Barton.
Attached to a furniture van, the poor horse seemed to be in some difficulty and was leaning to the left as if in great pain.
Craggs, of Albert Steet, Eccles, was arrested and taken to Green Lane police station.
PC Abraham examined the horse and to his horror he found a large, raw wound under the saddle “oozing blood and matter”.
Further examination revealed another large weal to its back.
Police charged Arthur Craggs and his father, Matthew Craggs, with working an unfit horse.
Read: RSPCA probe Salford cruelty as kids pelt horse with bricks
In court, furniture remover Matthew said in his defence that he had warned his son against taking the horse out, but “he could please himself”.
He added that he would not have taken the horse on a journey if he had known and it was only intended to take the empty van, not to heave a van full of furniture, but his son had done so.
Young Arthur Craggs told the court that he didn’t think “the horse was that bad”.
The Chairman of the Court, Alderman Thompson, said that he had examined the horse that morning and found it was very sore along the shins and declared it was clearly unfit for work.
He added that he believed that it was the defendants’ intention to send the horse and van out again to a property on Gladstone Road and load up the removal van with furniture when it wasn’t fit to draw even an empty van.
Matthew Craggs was fined £4 or a month in prison, while his son received a fine of £1 or 14 days in prison.
Sadly there was no consolation for the poor horse.
