The war on dogs was a city ritual for years. The city paper noted, “It would be a good idea to kill a hundred or so of the vast army of dogs which run about the streets all the time.”  Dogs were slaughtered yearly.  The city council directed Chief of Police Barnes and Sam Petch (or Patch, two spellings given) to kill stray dogs on the streets at a four-bit bounty per canine.   The paper reported, “We now know where the friendless dogs go to, but whence come they?” The main concern of dogs was rabies.  Rabid dogs running wild in the streets would bite other dogs creating a serious danger to the public.

A rash of black snakes were scaring folks during the summers of 1914-1915.   Mrs. Alexandra Craig killed a five foot black snake in her yard on North Main Street. It was the second such incident in a few days. A black snake measuring 6 feet 2 inches was killed by Kelly Varden as it was crawling into the office of the gasoline works.   During a storm early in August, a black snake said to measure seven feet was found on Main Street by Robert Reese.  “The reptile showed fight and would not be chased away so it was killed with a club.”

• Mill Towns Review, “War on Dogs,” December 4, 1914, front page.
• Mill Towns Review, “Slaughter Dogs,” December 11, 1914, p. 7.
• Follansbee Review, “Kills Black Snake,” June 25, 1915, front page.
• Follansbee Review, “Kills 6-ft. Snake,” July2, 1915, front page.
• Mill Towns Review, “Blacksnake Killed in Main Street,” August 14, 1914, front page.