Thin White Line

A squad of British workmen marched round the cathedral city of Salisbury (pop. 33,000) one day last week, carefully painting broad white circles around the metal telephone posts. The men had not gone mad, as some Sarumites suspected; they were simply trying to protect Her Britannic Majesty's property from ill-mannered dogs. After much experiment, Post Office researchers had reached a solemn conclusion: that not even dire necessity will drive a normal dog to cross a bright white line. Instead, dogs try to sneak around the end of the line, and, in the case of a circle, never venture inside it. "Dogs see everything in greys and whites," explained one dog expert. "A white painted line probably dazzles them like a torch shone in the face."

The Salisbury experiment made scores of British dog lovers sit up and take notice. After testing his dog ("with much bending and drawing of white lines"), a Londoner reported that the animal "walked over the line several times, then sat down on it and had to be forcibly pushed off." Wrote one Gordon P. Pane: "I have found from experience with my front gate that my own Alsatians always pay their respects more to white than to any other color."

For an authoritative opinion, Britons naturally looked to the Canine Defense League, whose 187,000 members follow their proteges' habits with absorbing intensity. The league's opinion: white lines might help the Post Office protect public property, and do not infringe a dog's natural rights. "Of course, if they began painting a white line around every tree, we might begin to be a bit uppish," said the league secretary.

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