Black Beauty-era Animal Cruelty Educational Circular -- Anti-Check Rein

Providence, Rhode Island: Humane Education Committee, Late 19th-century. Very good. Light dust soiling/spotting, light toning, a couple nicks/short tears.. A printed circular published around the same time of the publication of Black Beauty, which triggered an animal welfare and humane education movement in the United States and Great Britain. This circular, published by a humane education committee in Providence, aims to educate the general public about the cruelty of the "check-rein" for horses. A "check-rein" is a kind of rein that artificially lifts the head of a horse pulling a carriage, straining their spine and back and harming them. It is mentioned in Black Beauty as a particularly cruel method used for aesthetics only. This circular includes illustrations of a horse with and without a check-rein, showing how cruel it is, as well as an in-depth discussion of the practice and testimony from the President of the Royal Veterinary College, London. Also includes visceral descriptions of the practice by observers. Illus. bifolium (8.5" by 5.5").