Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1891 — Where Dogs Are Street Cleaners. [ARTICLE]

Where Dogs Are Street Cleaners.

Philadelphia Ledger. Next to St. Sophia, we had heard most about the dogs of Constantinople. When we counted 280 dogs in an hour’s drive in Damascus we thought we could see nothing that would surprise us in canine numerals. But Damascus did not begin with-this city, especially in the old part, as in Stamboul. At times they lined the street, making it yellow and furry for two or three rods.. Again, dogs lay stretched, singly, in the middle of the street, asleep, and carriages and foot passengers went out of their way to pass them for hours, rather than trouble to move them. Puppies ran about.ad libitum, and dear little things they were, too. These dogs are not a fine breed. Their hair is coarse and rough, and their bodies thick and heavy. But they have good, mild faces, gentle eyes, and, as for attacking any one, it seems never to enter their minds. Cats, too, are plenty; and often is seen a happy family of dogs, cats and chickens, sharing the street w-ith perfect good nature. The dogs are the street cleaners. At night, when refuse is thrown out from the houses, they have high (eastings, and by morning nothing but what can be easily carried away in baskets or on donkey back is left. They belong to nobody, and would live a happy and care-free life, clid they not somehow get many injuries. The howl of a dog sounds every few minutes even in Pera, and it is not rare to see torn ears, bleeding eyes and scratched and hairless skin.