DOGS AND DOG LAWS. 459 



The boaid of appraisers shall receive from the county, or in the county of Suffolk from 

 the city or town treasurer, out of the moneys received under the provisions of this act, the 

 sum of one dollar each for every examination made by them as prescribed in this section. 



Sec. 10. Any town, city, or county officer refusing or neglecting to perform the duties 

 herein imposed upon him, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundied dollars, to 

 be paid, except in the county of Suffolk, into the county treasury. 



Sec. 11. The treasurer of any county may, in an action of tort against the owner or 

 keeper of any dog concerned in doing damage to sheep, lambs, or other domestic animals in 

 said county, which damage has been ordered to be paid by the county commissioners, re- 

 cover the full amount thereof to the use of said county. If the amount so recovered exceeds 

 the amount so received by the owner of the sheep or other animals, under the provisions of 

 section nine, the excess shall be paid by the county treasurer to such owner. All fines and 

 penalties provided iu this act ma^' be recovered on complaint before any police court or trial 

 justice in the county where the oflence is committed. Moneys received by the treasurer of 

 any county, city, or town, under the provisions of this act, and not expended in accordance 

 with its provisions, may be applied to the payment of any county, city, or town expenses. 



RHODE ISLAND. 



In this State, by tlie law of 1860, a dog might be killed with impunity if 

 found without a collar bearing his owner's initials, or worrymg or wounding 

 sheep or other stock out of the enclosure of his owner. Any person might 

 make oath to any case of injury, or to the special ill-fame of any particular 

 whelp, and if the allegation was sustained, the dog must be confined, or the life of 

 the animal was foi-feited. 



A distinguished correspondent suggests that the private history of that law 

 would be instructive and amusing. The substitution of the recent and more 

 stringent law for the old one was suggested to the legislature by the Society 

 for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. The former law allowed the 

 several town councils to make ordinances taxing dogs, and providing for in- 

 juries inflicted upon sheep. A general State law also provided for recovery 

 of damages of the owner of dogs, and double damages and the killing of the 

 dog for a second offence. The agricultural committee of the society, to whom 

 the matter was referred, reported that these municipal regulations were dis- 

 cordant, and were not enforced. The substitute proposed they describe as less 

 stringent than those of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and quite too tame, 

 but still as severe as they dared to recommend. It was discussed in the legis- 

 lature of 1860 for several days, and the present enactment was finally hatched 

 from a new incubation of anxious politicians, feai-ing the retributions of voting 

 dog owners. 



An additional law has just been passed, which requires doga to be collared, 

 registered, numbered, described, and licensed, with the payment of $1 15 for 

 each male and $5 15 for each female dog, before the last day of April, and one 

 dollar additional for each dog after that date, and previous to the first of June. 

 It provides for the appointment of suitable persons to make a list of the 

 owners or keepers of dogs, to be returned to the clerk previous to the first of 

 May, who is required to furnish to such persons a list of all dogs licensed for 

 the current year, and to make another list of those not licensed, with the name 

 of the owner or keeper, to be suitably posted or advertised. Any one keeping 

 a dog contrary to these provisions is liable to a fine of ten dollars ; and per- 

 sons appointed to make the lists are required to make complaint and prosecute 

 delinquents prior to the first of July. Such persons and constables and police 

 ofiicers are required to kill and bury all unlicensed dogs, and any person may 

 lawfully do so, and for such service the sum of one dollar shall be paid. Re- 

 moval of a collar is punishable by fine not exceeding fifty dollars. Damages 

 to sheep are recoverable upon proof made within thirty days from the town or 

 city treasury on the first day of June, or a pro rata proportion of them if the 

 tax fund is insuificient for payment in full ; and the city or town may then 

 recover from the owner of the dos doiu": the mischief. 



