No. 7. 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



107 



Office of the Attorney General, 

 Harrisburg, Pa., March 15, 1906. 

 Dr. Leonard Pearson, 

 State Veterinarian, 

 Harrisburg, Pa. 



Sir: You have asked my advice as to the authority of the State 

 Livestock Sanitary Board to condemn and order the destruction of 

 a horse afflicted with glanders, the owner of which refuses to enter 

 into any agreement as to the value of the animal or to designate an 

 appraiser to represent him. 



I answer that the Acts of May 21st, 1895 (P. L. 91) and March 

 30th, 1905 (P. L. 78) both relate to the prevention and suppression of 

 dangerous, contagious and infectious diseases among domestic 

 animals. The first Act provides for the establishment of the State 

 Livestock Sanitary Board. The second Act defines the duties and 

 powers of the Board, providing in Section 5 certain limits of ap- 

 praisement with respect to animals that the Board deems it neces- 

 sary to destroy in order to prevent the spread of disease, but this sec- 

 tion does not modify the procedure with reference to appraisement. 



I am of opinion that the appraisement should be made under the 

 first named Act, observing the limits set up by the second. If the 

 owner of the animal condemned to death refuses to appoint an 

 appraiser under the sanction of the Act of 1895, and otherwise 

 obstructs the Board in carrying out the provisions of the Acts re- 

 ferred to, he can be prosecuted under Section 5 of the Act of 1895. 

 I can find no way pointed out by which he can be compelled to 

 designate an appraiser, but as Section 2 of the Act of 1895 confers 

 abundant power upon your Board to order the destruction of the 

 horse in question, provided it is deemed necessary for the suppres- 

 sion of dangerous, contagious and infectious diseases among domes- 

 tic animals, I do not hesitate to advise you that you are authorized 

 to employ the most efficient and practical means for the prevention, 

 suppression, control or eradication of dangerous contagion or in- 

 fection, and that, if you are satisfied that the horse is incurably 

 diseased; that glanders is a highly infectious disease easily trans- 

 missible to horses and mules and also to men; and that the horse 

 now in quarantine constitutes a menace to horses and mules, and, in 

 a less degree, to persons in the neighborhood, you have the power to 

 take and kill the horse. If you are resisted, the person so resisting 

 should be dealt M'ith under Section 5 of the Act of 1895. You are, 

 of course, authorized to employ such force as is necessary to enable 

 you to execute fully your duty. 



Very respectfullv, 



HAMPTON L. CARSON, 



Attorney General. 



The general system for dealing with glanders has not been 

 changed. The agglutination test for diagnosis has been used ex- 

 perimentally, and as the test proves to be satisfactory, its use i^ 

 to be extended. 



On account of the unusual number of cases of introduced 

 glanders, it has been proposed, from several sides, that an inspection 

 ought to be made of all horses entering Pennsylvania from other 



