28 ESSENTIALS OF VETERINARY LAW 



easier to prove the existence of the disease before 

 the horse was destroyed than it would be after- 

 ward. 



Due process does not necessarily mean that there 

 must be a trial in court. The same object may be 

 secured through a hearing before an executive 

 officer, or it may be secured beforehand by the 

 passage of a statute or ordinance. It is presumed 

 that while the enactment is pending it may be 

 attacked, or after its passage any one desiring to 

 do so may then attack it in court. The courts will 

 not permit arbitrar^^ action.^ 



18. Nuisance. The basis of almost all public 

 health operations is found in the law of nuisance. 

 A nuisance is a thing or condition which tends to 

 work an injury, either to a limited number of in- 

 dividuals, or to the community. If it endangers the 

 public it is called a public nuisance. If it endan- 

 gers only a few persons it is regarded as a private 

 nuisance. The remedy for private nuisances is 

 found in civil suits. That for a public nuisance 

 must be found either in a civil suit, a criminal 

 prosecution, or in executive action. An infectious 

 disease is a nuisance, and therefore it is custom- 

 ary to institute a quarantine. This is done un- 

 der the police power. A rabid dog is a nuisance, 

 and because the dog is thus rendered useless, and 

 valueless, he is ordinarily killed. Property mis- 

 used, as for a house of ill fame, or for the illegal 

 selling of liquor, is a nuisance. The owner may 

 be punished criminally, and further misuse may 

 be prevented by an injunction. A man possessing 



8 Public Health, Chap. VII, 

 and 273. 



