Damage by dogs, how paid. owner or keeper of any dog so taken, if known, of its impoundment, and if said dog shall not, at the expiration of said period of forty-eight hours, have been claimed and released as hereinafter provided, said dog shall be mercifully killed by said dog warden. Said dog warden shall be paid by the town from the moneys mentioned in section seven the sum of five dollars for each dog so captured and killed, and such additional remuneration from the general funds of the town, borough, or city as the authorities thereof may direct. Any dog captured and impounded under the provisions of this section may be redeemed by the owner or keeper thereof and released by the dog warden at any time within forty-eight hours after its impoundment, upon the payment of the sum of five dollars to the dog warden, or, if the cause for such capture be without fault of the owner, said payment shall be one dollar only. Any dog warden may be removed for cause by the authority appointing him and any vacancy occurring in the office of dog warden shall be immediately filled by said authority. SEC. 9. When any person shall sustain damage by dogs to his sheep, lambs, Angora goats, Angora kids, horses, hogs, cattle, or other domestic animals, or poultry, he shall give information thereof to one of the selectmen of the town in which such damage was done within twenty-four hours after he has knowledge of the same, and thereupon one of the selectmen of said town, with a person to be named by the person suffering the damage, shall estimate the amount of such damage, including the labor and time necessarily expended in finding and collecting such domestic animals or poultry injured or separated, and the value of those killed, injured, lost, or otherwise damaged by said dogs. In case the said selectman and the person thus named cannot agree upon the amount of the damage, they shall choose some disinterested third person to assist in estimating the said damage. The amount of damage estimated by any two of said three persons shall be paid by such town, and it may recover such damages, when paid, together with the compensation of said appraisers, from the owners, keepers, or harborers of such dogs, if residents of such town. If the owners, keepers, or harborers of such dogs shall not be residents of the town in which the damage was done, the town in which the damage was done may recover such damage and compensation from the town or towns where such owners, keepers, or harborers reside, unless such owners, keepers, or harborers, or such town or towns shall, on notice, pay to the treasurer of the town where such damage was done the amount of such damage and compensation; and any town which shall be obliged to pay any damage as aforesaid may recover the amount thereof from the owners, keepers, or hárborers of the dogs doing such damage. When any town shall have paid such damages to the owners of sheep, lambs, Angora goats, Angora kids, horses, cattle, hogs, or other domestic animals, or poultry as provided in this section, and the amount of such damages cannot be collected from the owners or keepers of said dogs, or if the dog or dogs causing such damage cannot be identified, the selectmen of such town shall forward to the state treasurer a statement of the facts in each case showing the amount so paid, and the state treasurer shall reimburse such town to the amount of such damage, from the funds received by the state under the provisions of this act. When the identity of the dogs by which the damage was done shall be established to the satisfaction of the selectmen of the town in which such dogs are owned, kept, or harbored, the selectmen shall order that such dogs shall be killed forthwith. damage done by SEC. 10. When any dog shall do any damage, either to the Liability for body or property of any person, the owner or keeper, or, if the dog. owner or keeper be a minor, the parent or guardian of such minor, shall be liable for such damages. eral liability for SEC. 11. When any sheep, lambs, or other domestic ani- Joint and sevmals shall have been damaged by two or more dogs at the same damage. time, kept by two or more persons, the owners or keepers of such dogs shall be jointly and severally liable for such damages. domestic ani rules concerning SEC. 12. The commissioner on domestic animals may, at Commissioner on any time, make such further rules for confining or destroying mals may make dogs in any town or towns as he may deem reasonable for the dogs. security of the inhabitants or their property, and notice of such rules shall be given by advertising the same in at least one newspaper having a circulation in each town, city, or borough affected by said rules, and by mailing a copy thereof to the town clerk of each such town not less than five days before said rules shall take effect. The selectmen or dog warden may kill or cause to be killed all dogs which shall not be confined or destroyed in accordance with such rules, or which shall be found mad or are justly suspected to be mad, or are found doing mischief when not under the care of any person, or killing or worrying sheep, lambs, or other domestic animals, or poultry. doing damage SEC. 13. Any person may kill any dog which he finds pur- Dog found suing, worrying, or wounding any sheep, lambs, or other domes- may be killed. tic animals, or any dog which he finds straying between sunset and sunrise on any farm whereon any sheep, lambs, or other domestic animals are kept; but no dog, so straying between sunset and sunrise, which is kept by the occupant of any premises next adjoining the said farm or next adjoining that part of any highway which abuts on said farm, or which dog is securely muzzled, or is accompanied by or within reasonable Penalty. call of any person having the charge of said dog, shall be killed unless there is reasonable apprehension that such dog, if not killed, will pursue, worry, wound, or terrify sheep, lambs, or other domestic animals then on said farm. Any person who shall be attacked, bitten, or otherwise wounded by any dog, such person not being upon the premises or property of the owner or keeper of such dog, may immediately kill such dog, or may make complaint thereof to the dog warden of the town wherein such dog is owned or kept, and said dog warden shall immediately make an investigation of such complaint, and, if it be found to be substantiated and true, shall at once kill said dog or order the same to be confined. Any person killing a dog or dogs in accordance with the provisions of this section shall not be held criminally or civilly liable therefor. SEC. 14. Every person owning, keeping, or harboring a dog, who shall violate any provision of this act for which no other penalty is provided, or any rule for restraining or destroying dogs, legally made and published, shall be fined not more than seven dollars, or imprisoned not more than thirty days, Duties of officers. or both. Grand jurors, constables, dog wardens, and all prosecuting officers shall diligently inquire after and prosecute any violation of the provisions of this act, and the commissioner on domestic animals. domestic animals shall, upon the complaint of any person that any such officer is dilatory or negligent in the performance of his duties concerning the enforcement of this act, make such orders and take such action as he shall deem necessary to secure such enforcement. Duty of commissioner on Penalty for stealing registered dog. Notices to be annually posted. Return of SEC. 15. Every person who shall steal, or confine and secrete, any registered dog or any dog under the age of six months, or who shall maliciously remove the collar or registry tag from any registered dog, or who shall unlawfully kill or injure any such dog, shall be liable to the owner in a civil action, and shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. SEC. 16. The selectmen of each town shall, annually, at least thirty days before the first of May, post a notice in every school district in their respective towns, setting forth all the requirements of this act, with the penalties for non-compliance with the same. SEC. 17. All moneys received by the state treasurer under the provisions of section seven of this act, during the year ending June first of each year, and remaining unexpended on July first following, shall be returned pro rata to the towns paying the same, in proportion to the amount so paid by them, respectively. Tax not to be SEC. 18. No moneys paid into the treasury of a town, refunded. which arise from the tax or license on dogs, shall be paid back to the persons from whom the same was collected, but the same, if not needed for the payment of damages done by dogs and the compensation of dog wardens under the provisions of this act, or under the provisions of section 1936 of the general statutes, shall be used for the ordinary purposes of the town. Every selectman who shall sign an order for the repayment of such tax or license fee shall be fined not more than seven dollars. SEC. 19. Chapter 247 of the general statutes, chapters 5 Repeal. and 86 of the public acts of 1903 and all other acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith, are hereby repealed. effect, when. SEC. 20. This act shall take effect July 1, 1907; but all This act takes dog licenses theretofore lawfully issued shall be valid until the first day of May, 1908; provided, that whenever any owner or keeper of a dog has paid for such license a greater fee than that provided for such license by this act a part of such excess proportionate to the unexpired term of such license shall be repaid to such owner or keeper; and provided, further, that every owner or keeper of a licensed dog shall, on or before August 1, 1907, secure from the town clerk by whom such dog was licensed the tag or plate provided by section two of this act, which tag plate shall be provided and furnished by said town clerk on payment of ten cents therefor, and thereafter such owner or keeper shall comply with the provisions of said section two. No prosecution based upon section two of this act shall be brought for any offense committed prior to August 1, 1907. appointed, SEC. 21. Dog wardens as provided by section eight of this Dog wardens act shall be appointed on or before August 1, 1907, to hold when. office until the first day of April, 1908. Approved, June 27, 1907. [Senate Bill No. 251.] CHAPTER 168. An Act concerning the Appointment of a Building and Loan Commissioner. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in At the present session of the general assembly the time within which the governor may nominate and appoint a missioner on building and loan associations, pursuant to provisions of section 4012 of the general statutes, is hereby tended until June 25, 1907. Approved, June 27, 1907. com- pointment of Time for ap loan commis Creditor whose claim is disallowed may apply for commissioners. [Substitute for House Bill No. 574.] CHAPTER 169. An Act concerning the Appointment of Commissioners on Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Whenever the executor or administrator of any estate of a deceased person shall disallow, in whole or in part, the claim appointment of of any creditor against such estate, which claim has been presented within the time limited for presenting claims against said estate, such creditor may, within one month after notice of such disallowance or the expiration of the time limited for presenting claims, apply to the court of probate for the appointment of commissioners to receive and decide upon said claim. The court may, in its discretion, grant such application, and commissioners so appointed shall have all the powers and duties concerning said claim appertaining to commissioners appointed under the provisions of sections 331 and 332 of the general statutes. If such application for appointment of commissioners be denied, the creditor may commence suit upon said claim, in the manner provided by law, within four months after the denial of said application. Notice to be Approved, June 27, 1907. [Substitute for House Bill No. 197.] CHAPTER 170. An Act concerning the Prevention and Treatment of Rabies. SECTION 1. The health officer or board of health of any town, city, or borough shall, within twenty-four hours after having received information of the existence or supposed existence within such town, city, or borough of the infectious disease known as rabies, give notice thereof to the commissioner on domestic animals, who shall make immediate investigation and may make such rules and regulations for the adequate confinement, control, or destruction of dogs, or other domestic animals, as he may deem necessary to prevent the spread of said disease and to protect the public thereform. Notice of such rules and regulations shall be given by said commissioner by advertising the same in a newspaper having a circulation in each town, city, or borough affected by said rules and regulations and by mailing |
