THE DOG AND THE LAW
PRIVILEGES OF FIRST BITE
It is popularly, but rather erroneously, supposed that _every_ dog is
entitled to one bite. Perhaps it would be more accurate to state that
every dog may with impunity have one snap or one intended bite, but
only dogs of hitherto irreproachable character are permitted the
honour of a genuine tasteful bite.
Once a dog, however, has displayed dangerous propensities, even though
he has never had the satisfaction of effecting an actual bite, and
once his owner or the person who harbours him becomes aware of these
evil inclinations (scienter) either of his own knowledge or by notice,
the Law looks upon such dog as a dangerous beast which the owner keeps
at his peril.
The onus of proof is on the victim to show that the owner had previous
knowledge of the animal's ferocity, though in reality very little
evidence of scienter is as a rule required, and notice need not
necessarily be given directly to the owner, but to any person who has
charge of the dog.
The person attacked has yet another remedy. He can, if he is able,
kill the dog before it can bite him, but he is not justified in
shooting the animal as it runs away, even _after_ being bitten.
By 28 and 29 Vict., c. 60, the owner of a dog which attacks sheep or
cattle--and cattle includes horses--is responsible for all damage, and
there is no necessity to prove previous evil propensities. This Act is
wholly repealed by the Act called the Dogs' Act, 1906, which came into
force on January 1st, 1907, but the new Act re-enacts the section
having reference to damage to cattle, and says that in such cases it
is not necessary for the persons claiming damages to show a previous
mischievous propensity in the dog or the owner's knowledge of such
previous propensity or to show that the injury was attributable to
neglect on the part of the owner; the word "cattle" includes horses,
asses, sheep, goats, and swine.
The Law looks upon fighting between dogs as a natural and necessary
incident in the career of every member of the canine race, and gives
no redress to the owner of the vanquished animal, provided the fight
was a fair one, and the contestants appear to consider it so. The
owner, however, of a peaceably disposed dog which is attacked and
injured, or killed, by one savage and unrestrained, has a right of
action against the owner of the latter. The owner of the peaceably
disposed animal may justifiably kill the savage brute in order to save
his dog, but he must run the risk of being able to prove that this was
the only means of putting a stop to the fight.
LICENCES
Every dog owner must annually take out a licence for each dog he
keeps. The licence, which is obtainable at all post-offices at the
cost of 7s. 6d., is dated to run from the hour it is taken out until
the following 31st December. The person in whose custody or upon whose
premises the dog is found will be deemed its owner until proved
otherwise.
The owners of certain dogs for certain purposes are, however, exempted
from taking out licences, viz.: (1) Dogs under the age of six months;
(2) hounds under twelve months old neither used nor hunted with the
pack, provided that the Master has taken out proper licences for all
hounds entered in the pack; (3) one dog kept and used by a blind
person solely for his or her guidance; (4) dogs kept and used solely
for the purpose of tending sheep or cattle or in the exercise of the
occupation or calling of a shepherd.
MUZZLING REGULATIONS
Under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts, 1878-1894, local
authorities (_i.e._, county, borough, or district councils) were
empowered to issue orders regulating the muzzling of dogs in public
places and the keeping of dogs under control (otherwise than by
muzzling). Offenders under these Acts are liable to a fine not
exceeding P20.
The Statute 57 and 58 Vict., c. 57, gives the Board of Agriculture
power to make orders for muzzling dogs, keeping them under control,
and the detention and disposal of stray dogs; and section 2 of the
Dogs Act, 1906 (known by some as the Curfew Bell Act), says that the
Diseases of Animals Act, 1894, shall have effect:
(a) For prescribing and regulating the wearing by dogs while in a
highway or in a place of public resort of a collar with the name and
address of the owner inscribed on the collar or on a plate or badge
attached thereto:
(b) With a view to the prevention of worrying of cattle for preventing
dogs or any class of dogs from straying during all or any of the hours
between sunset and sunrise.
STRAY DOGS
The Dogs Act, 1906, has some important sections dealing with seizure
of stray dogs, and enacts that where a police officer has reason to
believe that any dog found in a highway or place of public resort is a
stray dog, he may seize and retain it until the owner has claimed it
and paid all expenses incurred by reason of its detention. If the dog
so seized wears a collar on which is the address of any person, or if
the owner of the dog is known, then the chief officer of police or
some person authorised by him in that behalf shall serve on either
such person a notice in writing stating that the dog has been seized,
and will be sold or destroyed if not claimed within seven clear days
of the service of the notice.
Failing the owner putting in an appearance and paying all expenses of
detention within the seven clear days, then the chief officer of
police or any person authorised by him may cause the dog to be sold,
or destroyed in a manner to cause as little pain as possible. The
police must keep a proper register of all dogs seized, and every such
register shall be open to inspection at all reasonable times by any
member of the public on payment of a fee of one shilling, and the
police may transfer such dog to any establishment for the reception of
stray dogs, but only if there is a proper register kept at such
establishment open to inspection by the public on payment of a fee not
exceeding one shilling.
Another section enacts that any person who takes possession of a stray
dog shall forthwith either return the dog to its owner or give notice
in writing to the chief officer of police of the district where the
dog was found, containing a description of the dog and stating the
place where the dog was found, and the place where he is being
detained, and any person failing to comply with the provisions of this
section shall be liable on conviction under the Summary Jurisdiction
Acts to a fine not exceeding forty shillings.
IMPORTATION OF DOGS
The power of making Orders dealing with the importation of dogs is
vested in the Board of Agriculture, who have absolute authority in the
matter.
The initial step to be taken by a person wishing to import any dog
into Great Britain from any other country excepting Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, is that he must fill up an
application form to the said Board, which he has previously obtained
from them, in which he applies for a licence to land the dog under the
conditions imposed by the Board, which he undertakes to obey.
On the form he has to give a full description of the dog, the name and
address of the owner, the proposed port of landing, and the approximate
date of landing, and further from lists which he will receive from the
Board he must select the carrying agents he proposes should superintend
the movement of the dog from the port of landing to the place of
detention, and also the premises of a veterinary surgeon on which he
proposes the dog shall be detained and isolated as required by the
Order. An imported dog must be landed and taken to its place of
detention in a suitable box, hamper, crate or other receptacle, and as
a general rule has to remain entirely isolated for a period of six
months.
MOTOR CARS AND DOGS
Unquestionably the greatest enemy that the dog possesses at the
present time is the motor car.
Presuming the owner of the dog is fortunate enough to know whose car
it was that ran over his dog, and to have some evidence of excessive
or unreasonable speed or other negligence on the part of the car
driver at the time of the accident, he will find the law ever ready to
assist him. A dog has every bit as much right to the high road as a
motor car. Efforts have been made on the part of motor owners to get
the Courts to hold that dogs on a high road are only under proper
control if on a "lead," and that if they are not on a "lead" the owner
of them is guilty of negligence in allowing his dog to stroll about,
and therefore is not entitled to recover: such efforts have not been
successful. Even supposing a Court to hold that the fact of a dog
being loose in this way or unaccompanied was evidence of negligence
against his owner this would by no means defeat his owner's claim, for
the law is, that though a plaintiff may have been negligent in some
such way as this, yet if the defendant could, by the exercise of
reasonable care, have avoided the accident, the plaintiff can still
recover. There are several cases that decide this valuable principle.
INDEX
Airedale Terrier
Assyrian Sculpture and Dog
--Mastiff
Basset-Hound
Beagle
Bedlington Terrier
Bible, Dog in The
Black and Tan Terrier
Blenheim Spaniel
Bloodhound
Borzoi
Breeding:
Bulldog
Newfoundland
Borzoi
Dachshund
Smooth Fox-Terrier
Dandie Dinmont
King Charles Spaniel
General Notes
Bronchitis
Brussels Griffon
Bulldog
--Miniature
--French
Bull-terrier
----Toy
Chow Chow
Clumber Spaniel
Clydesdale Terrier
Cocker Spaniel
Collie
Constipation
Coursing
Dachshund
Dalmatian
Dandie Dinmont
Deerhound
Diarrhoea
Distemper
English Terrier, White
English Water Spaniel
Egypt, Dog in
Feeding
Field Spaniel
First Bite, Privileges of
Fits
Fleas
Fox as progenitor of the Dog
Foxhound
Fox-terrier, Smooth
--Wire-hair
Great Dane
Greeks, Dogs and Ancient
Greyhound
--Italian
Harrier
Importation if Dogs
Irish Terrier
Irish Water Spaniel
Italian Greyhound
Jackal as progenitor of Dog
Japanese Spaniel
Kennels and their management
King Charles Spaniel
Labrador, The
Law, Dog and the
Licences
Maltese Dog
Manchester Terrier
--Miniature
Mange
Mastiff, Assyrian
--English
Miniature Breeds:
Bulldog
French Bulldog
Poodle
Pomeranian
Black and Tan Terrier
Toy Bull-terrier
Italian Greyhound
Shetland Sheepdog
Motor Cars and Dogs
Muzzling Regulations
Newfoundland
Origin of the Dog
Otterhound
Pekinese
Phoenicians, and Dogs
Pointer
Pomeranian
Poodle
--Toy White
Primitive Man and Dog
Pug
Puppies, Treatment of:
Mastiff
Bulldog
Newfoundland
Great Dane
Old English Sheepdog
Poodle
Borzoi
Dachshund
King Charles Spaniel
Pekinese
Brussels Griffon
General Notes
Retriever, Flat-Coated
--Curly
Rome, Dogs and Ancient
Samoyede
Schipperke
Scottish Terrier
Setter, English
--Irish
--Black and Tan
Sheepdog, Old English
Shetland Sheepdog
Skin Diseases
Skye Terrier
Spaniel Family, The
Spaniel, Irish Water
--English
--Clumber
--Sussex
--Field
--English Springer
--Welsh Springer
--Cocker
--King Charles
Springer, English
--Welsh
St. Bernard
Stray Dogs
Sussex Spaniel
Terrier, Old Working
--White English
--Black and Tan
--Bull-
--Smooth Fox-
--Wire-hair Fox-
--Airedale
--Bedlington
--Irish
--Welsh
--Scottish
--West Highland White
--Dandie Dinmont
--Skye, and Clydesdale
--Yorkshire
Toy Dogs:
Pomeranian
Poodle, White
King Charles Spaniel
Pekinese and Japanese
Maltese and Pug
Brussels Griffon
Miniature Black and Tan,
Bull-terrier, Italian Greyhound
and Shetland Sheepdog
Waterloo Cup
Welsh Terrier
West Highland White Terrier
Whippet
Wolf as progenitor of Dog
Wolfhound, Irish
--Russian (Borzoi)
Worm, Treatment for
Yorkshire Terrier
End of Project Gutenberg's Dogs and All About Them, by Robert Leighton