THE KENNEL

Racing Dogs Killed by Chinese shell: One of the most tragic incidents in relation to animals which we have to record is the killing of forty two valuable greyhounds belonging to the Canidrome while they were being evacuated from the breeding kennels in the Yangtzepoo area. Some 160 greybounds had been loaded on trucks, which were proceeding toward the central district of the International Settlement south of Soochow Creek When crossing the Hongkew Creek Bridge at noon on August 15, the leading truck was hit by a shell from Chapei, which exploded, killing the forty-two dogs, the Chinese driver of the truck and six Chinese bystanders.

The Boy Hero of the War: What can only be described as an epic is the story of sixteen-year-old Valentine Holdosi, a Hungarian boy who braved all the terrors of war to rescue his two dogs, a pet chicken and some canaries, which had been left behind in a hose in or near Thorburn Road in the Yangtzepoo area of East Shanghai. He and his mother did not leave their home in this area when the general evacuation took place, with the result that they found themselves cut off from safety, with shells and bombs falling all round them and the flames of burning buildings creeping ever nearer. At last they determined to make an effort to get out, but, not knowing what they would meet on their perilous journey, they left the two dogs and the birds in the house with two day's food supply and plenty of water, meaning to come back for them if they found it was possible to get through the zone of hostilities. They succeeded in reaching safety south of Soochow Creek, but could not get back again. Even the Shanghai Municipal Police could not reach their home in Thorburn Road.

This did not stop young Holdosi, who, determined to rescue his dumb friends, made his way into Nantao, the Chinese area south of the French Concession, whence he crossed the Whangpoo River, continued his perilous journey through wartorn Pootung to a point several miles down stream, re-crossed the Whangpoo into the Yangtzepoo area and so by a devious route reached his home. There he found his two dogs, already covered with oil and tar thrown over them by incendiaries preparatory to setting them and the building on fire, his chicken and his canaries, all of which he managed to take as far as Broadway, where a friendly policeman picked him up and conveyed him and his pets to safety south of Soochow Creek.

The courage, resourcefulness and endurance displayed by Valentine Holdosi in the course of this thrilling episode places him amongst the heroes of the Shanghai War of 1937, and we feel sure that his bravery will be recognized in a suitable manner by such institutions as the Royal Humane Society, even if it was animals and not human beings that be rescued in so gallant a manner.

A. de C. S.