PART ONE
General Terminology
Snovel - the name given to the snarf living area. It is akin to a canine kennel but necessarily larger and with more features. Snovels range from at least two and at most fifty acres. They can have trees but none taller than ten feet and they have to be fenced. By law, snovels must be separate from farms and other residential areas. (CONTROL cd code p.73, ss.3) The center of the snovel contains the manmade structures. Windows are to be placed on the roofs of the building and doors are to be kept locked at all times. A fence or moat can be used to protect the structures. Further regulations depend on the nature of the buildings.
Snovelor - the name given to amateur snarf breeders. [Professional snovelors are referred to as AI-Breeders and are subject to the strict regulations of CONTROL cd code p.181-253.] Snovelors are not very restricted by CONTROL but are subject to local area jurisdictions and the edicts of the Universal Snarf-Law Organization (USLO).
Bitch - the female snarf.
Buck - vulgar for the male snarf, the male snarf will be referred to as 'snarf'.
Youngling - a sexually immature snarf.
Designations
The Bitch Hut - the bitch hut is the primary structure in a snovel and as its name implies it is where the bitches are housed in cages. Also, it is where the act of natural breeding takes place.
The bitch hut has two levels: a lower level where the act of natural breeding takes place and an upper level where the bitches are housed. The 'keep,' as it is vulgarly called, consists of several cages either side-by-side or on racks. Extreme care must be taken so that wastes do not accumulate - this is often remedied with hoses and properly installed drains. The breeding chamber must also be cleaned regularly if the snovel will engage in natural breeding; otherwise the room can be used for miscellaneous veterinary activity.
The Black Box - the black box is the officially recognized form of snarf euthanasia and is the most important part of the snovel. All snovels require a black box. They must be located near the bitch hut where they are to be housed under a roof but not indoors. The device must be safely sectioned off away from the rest of the field.
As enforced by CONTROL and agreed to by the 13th Tribunal of the USLO, it is subject to yearly inspections and any failure to keep one or to use one may result in criminal prosecutions, fines of up to $1500 and loss of breeding licenses. (CONTROL reg. 457-61, p.3, ss.8) Special local area regulations apply to 'home-made' Black Boxes.
The Breedery - the breedery is a substructure that is found only in snovels that engage in artificial insemination (AI). It is normally physically attached to the bitch hut or is simply a room in the bitch hut large enough to accommodate the needs of AI.
The breedery is an optional building, wing or chamber used for AI. It is where the collecting of semen takes place. It can be no larger than 10 square feet and have no windows but plenty of lamplight. Except for the possible introduction of estrous dung, the area must be contaminant-free. (CONTROL cd code p.85) Depending on which AI method is being employed, it will either be equipped with a prop-bitch or hand-held apparatus.
Cross breeding with other snovels must be videotaped. Semen collection and the necessary statistical data associated with AI must also be recorded. All documents must be made according to the standards set forth by the 13th Tribunal of the USLO and copies of those records must be sent to the local branch of USLO.
The Field - the field constitutes the unimproved portions of the snovel. It is comprised of the open areas, covered eateries and fresh watering holes. It is where the snarves are free to roam.
It is important that the field be kept clean and trim. Communal accumulations of droppings that do not biodegrade in the course of a week are to be treated with lime. Large rocks and dead vegetations must be removed from time to time. Shrubs and hedges or any other kind of gardening activity are to be strongly avoided especially in small snovels.
Eateries are to be formed from a sturdy wooden room and one or more supports. Snarves should not be allowed to congregate in them for longer than an hour and they are to be washed regularly. Watering holes must be round and only a few inches deep. They must be scattered about the field, not necessarily at random locations. They must be free from algae and contamination.
Snarves, especially breeding snarves, react uncontrollably to cages; therefore they are allowed to roam freely. The field, then, is their area of dominance, their territory marked by their dung. They will tend to destroy anything animate or inanimate inside their 'space' and though generally solitary, they can tolerate the presence of others in their area. Occasionally, though, there will be fights but such violence tends to be for show or attention or involve dung. In all cases the snovelor is encouraged to let the events unfold at their own pace and not interfere. If death or injury occurs then the snarves directly involved are to be euthanized. To avoid trouble, there should be no more than one snarf for every fifty square feet.
The Nursery - the nursery is the second largest building in a snovel. It is plain and featureless. The younglings are kept there until they are sexually mature.
The nursery, for matters of convenience, is a one-room structure kept close to the bitch hut. They have natural opening along the ceiling to let in light and air but otherwise they have no windows and only one door. Often, if a snovel has an extra fence at all, it will be built around the nursery. Hoses are needed to keep the area free form wastes, but since younglings produce very little urine or excrement, the cleansing regiment need not be as rigid as it would be for the bitch hut.
Starting up & Caring for Snarves
First-time snovelors are encouraged to acquire sexually mature snarves and bitches and not younglings or feral specimens. The rearing of younglings is a matter best left to more experienced amateurs - younglings may or may not survive to sexual maturity - but the breeding pair (or pairs) will produce many litter to experiment techniques on. If the snovel is intended to crossbreed snarves, then the breeding pairs ought to be of higher stock and come from well established lines that trace back three centuries or more. And they should not be directly related, but that may not be a problem for larger snovels.
Snarves, when bought as adults, should have the proper documentation for all of the required vaccines and health treatments. Younglings do not have such detailed medical histories for economical purposes. Medical care is only given to adults and consists of veterinary checkups, booster shots and any other handling mandated by the local jurisdiction. Emergency care is given only for matters that affect sexual reproduction. All other maladies that do not resolve or cure themselves naturally over the course of seven days are to be treated by the black box.
Younglings are kept together at the nursery until they are about a year old. They will cling to their littermates but over time their familial bonds will vanish and their true isolated natures emerge. The snovelor is encouraged to examine the snarf's penis once a month or once a week to see if it has grown whiskers or it is three inches long when erect. Either is a sign of sexual maturity and if so then the snarf must be removed at once. If the bitch's clitori villi have emerged around the vaginal lips, then that, too, is a sign of sexual maturity and the bitch must be similarly removed.
The day-to-day care of snarves involves the clearing of cages or habitats and body washes. Feral snarves are repelled by water so it is important that younglings be acclimated to routine bathing. The snovelor has up to five months after birth to complete the processes with small ponds of warm to cool water, after that the adult snarves will be more tolerant of hoses and scrubbings. Extra care should be focused on the mouth, teeth, ears and claws. Little care or attention need be placed on hygiene except for the areas of the genitals.
Feeding is to be done once a day. For snarves a diet of grass, fruit and berries with the occasional meat will suffice. The food is to be placed in the eateries just before sunrise. For bitches all that matters is that their cage water bottles and dietary supplements be replenished when they run out.
Notes on Black Boxes
The black box is the proper way to dispose of dead or dying snarves. In the days before automation, snovelors would have to build black boxes from scratch or hire an expert to do so. While the popularity of 'home-made' devices has increased over the years, this manual will not cover the steps required to build one. (Appendix C refers to places of business where the snovelor can go to for more information regarding 'home-made' black boxes)
There are many pre-fabricated models for a sale in the market, models that range from the simple A and B to the more elaborate multi-mulchers that save the hide for personal use, among other things.
For the first-time snovelor models A or B should be used. Both work the same way, much like a blender or juicer. The snarf either falls or is thrown into a chamber whose flooring is a perforated rotating blade and whose walls contain large holes. The blades liquefy the body: the fluids fall through the small holes in the blades itself and are flushed into the sewage, the fleshy parts eject through the holes along the walls and collect in a separate chamber. Model B adds a chemical wash that allows the flesh to also be expelled into the sewage. Model A requires cleaning after each use. (Provided by the USLO)
Notes on Language
It cannot be stressed enough the importance of keeping snarves from speaking or mimicking the language ability of higher life forms. Snarves that have been trained to talk, either by accident or malicious intent, raise in the snovelor and others the erroneous notion that they are sentient, self-aware and thinking beings. It has always been the policy of CONTROL and the USLO that they - language-enabled specimens - should be put to the black box. [The snovelor is advised that training snarves to speak is a license-revoking offence. (CONTROL reg. 457-61, p.3, ss.8)]
It is crucial that when snarves are younglings that they not ever be spoken to. Once older they will lack the mental aptitude to use or mimic language and they will not 'pickup' any verbal skills. Instead they will respond to posture, tone and cadence like all other animals. It will be safe to speak around them then.
NOTE: if by chance a snarf is spoken to while still a youngling, the proper method of memory cleansing is a full-body beating that culminated with the release of blood. Snarves have hardened bodies so a simple beating alone will not suffice. The bloodletting, however, will engrain in memory an association between 'talking' and 'pain.' (Provided by the USLO)
All of the facts and opinions presented have been sanctioned by CONTROL and the USLO.