338 DOGS AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



necessary for the persons claiming damages to show a previous 

 mischievous propensity in the dog or the owner's knowledge 

 of such previous propensity or to show that the injury was 

 attributable to neglect on the part of the owner ; the word 

 " cattle " includes horses, asses, sheep, goats, and swine. 



The Law looks upon fighting between dogs as a natural 

 and necessary incident in the career of every member of the 

 canine race, and gives no redress to the owner of the vanquished 

 animal, provided the fight was a fair one, and the contestants 

 appear to consider it so. The owner, however, of a peaceably 

 disposed dog which is attacked and injured, or killed, by one 

 savage and unrestrained, has a right of action against the 

 owner of the latter. The owner of the peaceably disposed 

 animal may justifiably kill the savage brute in order to save 

 his dog, but he must run the risk of being able to prove that 

 this was the only means of putting a stop to the fight. 



LICENCES 



Every dog owner must annually take out a licence for each 

 dog he keeps. The licence, which is obtainable at all post- 

 offices at the cost of 75. 6d., is dated to run from the hour 

 it is taken out until the following 3ist December. The 

 person in whose custody or upon whose premises the dog is 

 found will be deemed its owner until proved otherwise. 



The owners of certain dogs for certain purposes are, however, 

 exempted from taking out licences, viz. : (i) Dogs under the 

 age of six months ; (2) hounds under twelve months old neither 

 used nor hunted with the pack, provided that the Master has 

 taken out proper licences for all hounds entered in the pack ; 

 (3) one dog kept and used by a blind person solely for his or 

 her guidance ; (4) dogs kept and used solely for the purpose of 

 tending sheep or cattle or in the exercise of the occupation 

 or calling of a shepherd. 



MUZZLING REGULATIONS 



Under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts, 1878-1894, 

 local authorities (i.e., county, borough, or district councils) 



