As a rat-killer, a ferret is not to be compared to a dog; but his
use is to kill rats in holes, inaccessible to dogs, or to drive the
vermin out of their holes into some open space, where they can be
destroyed. Ferrets are worth from 1_l._ to 4_l._ They are not animals
of street-sale.
The management of these sports is principally in the hands of the
street dog-sellers, as indeed is the dog-trade generally. They are the
breeders, dealers, and sellers. They are compelled, as it were, to
exhibit their dogs in the streets, that they may attract the attention
of the rich, who would not seek them in their homes in the suburbs.
The evening business in rat-hunting, &c., for such it is principally,
perhaps doubles the incomes I have specified as earned merely by
street-_sale_. The amount “turned over” in the trade in sporting-dogs
yearly in London, was computed for me by one of the traders at from
12,000_l._ to 15,000_l._ He could not, however, lay down any very
precise statistics, as some bull-dogs, bull-terriers, &c., were bred by
butchers, tanners, publicans, horse-dealers, and others, and disposed
of privately.
* * * * *
In my account of the former condition of the dog-trade, I had to dwell
principally on the stealing and restoring of dogs. This is now the
least part of the subject. The alteration in the law, consequent upon
the parliamentary inquiry, soon wrought a great change, especially the
enactment of the 6th Sect. in the Act 8 and 9 Vict. c. 47. “Any person
who shall corruptly take any money or reward, directly or indirectly,
under pretence or upon account of aiding any person to recover any
dog which shall have been stolen, or which shall be in the possession
of any person not being the owner thereof, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour, and punishable accordingly.”
There may now, I am informed, be half a dozen fellows who make a
precarious living by dog-stealing. These men generally keep out of the
way of the street dog-sellers, who would not scruple, they assure me,
to denounce their practices, as the more security a purchaser feels in
the property and possession of a dog, the better it is for the regular
business. One of these dog-stealers, dressed like a lime-burner--they
generally appear as mechanics--was lately seen to attempt the enticing
away of a dog. Any idle good-for-nothing fellow, slinking about the
streets, would also, I was informed, seize any stray dog within his
reach, and sell it for any trifle he could obtain. One dealer told
me that there might still be a little doing in the “restoring” way,
and with that way of life were still mixed up names which figured in
the parliamentary inquiry, but it was a mere nothing to what it was
formerly.
From a man acquainted with the dog business I had the following
account. My informant was not at present connected with the dog and
rat business, but he seemed to have what is called a “hankering after
it.” He had been a pot-boy in his youth, and had assisted at the bar of
public-houses, and so had acquired a taste for sporting, as some “fancy
coves” were among the frequenters of the tap-room and skittle-ground.
He had speculated a little in dogs, which a friend reared, and he
sold to the public-house customers. “At last I went slap into the
dog-trade,” he said, “but I did no good at all. There’s a way to do it,
I dare say, or perhaps you must wait to get known, but then you may
starve as you wait. I tried Smithfield first--it’s a good bit since,
but I can’t say how long--and I had a couple of tidy little terriers
that we’d bred; I thought I’d begin cheap to turn over money quick,
so I asked 12_s._ a-piece for them. O, in course they weren’t a werry
pure sort. But I couldn’t sell at all. If a grazier, or a butcher, or
anybody looked at them, and asked their figure, they’d say, ‘Twelve
shillings! a dog what ain’t worth more nor 12_s._ ain’t worth a d--n!’
I asked one gent a sovereign, but there was a lad near that sung out,
‘Why, you only axed 12_s._ a bit since; ain’t you a-coming it?’ After
that, I was glad to get away. I had five dogs when I started, and about
1_l._ 8_s._ 6_d._ in money, and some middling clothes; but my money
soon went, for I could do no business, and there was the rent, and
then the dogs must be properly fed, or they’d soon show it. At last,
when things grew uncommon taper, I almost grudged the poor things
their meat and their sop, for they were filling their bellies, and I
was an ’ung’ring. I got so seedy, too, that it was no use trying the
streets, for any one would think I’d stole the dogs. So I sold them
one by one. I think I got about 5_s._ apiece for them, for people took
their advantage on me. After that I fasted oft enough. I helped about
the pits, and looked out for jobs of any kind, cleaning knives and
spittoons at a public-house, and such-like, for a bite and sup. And I
sometimes got leave to sit up all night in a stable or any out-house
with a live rat trap that I could always borrow, and catch rats to
sell to the dealers. If I could get three lively rats in a night, it
was good work, for it was as good as 1_s._ to me. I sometimes won a
pint, or a tanner, when I could cover it, by betting on a rat-hunt
with helpers like myself--but it was only a few places we were let
into, just where I was known--’cause I’m a good judge of a dog, you
see, and if I had it to try over again, I think I could knock a tidy
living out of dog-selling. Yes, I’d like to try well enough, but it’s
no use trying if you haven’t a fairish bit of money. I’d only myself
to keep all this time, but that was one too many. I got leave to sleep
in hay-lofts, or stables, or anywhere, and I have slept in the park.
I don’t know how many months I was living this way. I got not to mind
it much at last. Then I got to carry out the day and night beers for a
potman what had hurt his foot and couldn’t walk quick and long enough
for supplying his beer, as there was five rounds every day. He lent
me an apron and a jacket to be decent. After that I got a potman’s
situation. No, I’m not much in the dog and rat line now, and don’t see
much of it, for I’ve very little opportunity. But I’ve a very nice
Scotch terrier to sell if you should be wanting such a thing, or hear
of any of your friends wanting one. It’s dirt cheap at 30_s._, just
about a year old. Yes, I generally has a dog, and swops and sells. Most
masters allows that in a quiet respectable way.”