BAILMENT 269 



is a bailee of mares brought to his stallion, so long 

 as they are in his care. The butcher is the bailee 

 of cattle which he slaughters for another, and the 

 man who distrains cattle found trespassing upon 

 his property, or who impounds stray animals, is 

 a bailee. (See § 79.) 



221. Bailment a Contract. Every act of bail- 

 ment is under a contract, implied or expressed. If 

 the exact terms are not fixed beforehand they must 

 be determined by common or statutory law. There 

 is always this one point found in bailment, namely, 

 that the bailee agrees to return the article bailed 

 upon the proper demand of the bailor. In the bail- 

 ment of animals it is further agreed that the bailee 

 must feed and care for the stock surrendered to 

 his care, and that he shall use due diligence to see 

 that they are not injured in any way. Clearly, if 

 the stock do not need feeding while he has them 

 in charge, he cannot be expected to do so. The 

 man hiring a livery team for a couple of hours 

 would not be expected to feed them in that time, 

 but if he kept them for the entire day he would 

 be negligent were he to neglect to give them food 

 and water. 



222. Bailor May Not Be Owner. The bailor 

 need not, necessarily, be the owner of the thing 

 bailed. He may himself be a bailee to whom the 

 owner has entrusted the animal, as a servant may 

 be sent with a horse to the smithy; or the bailor 

 may have stolen the animal. In the case of a serv- 

 ant, acting for his employer, the employer may be 

 recognized as the real bailor. It is the duty of the 

 bailee to deliver the animals bailed to the bailor, 

 and if he should deliver to any one else he may be 



