POACHING i6i 



is mistaken ; that commoners have no right to kill 

 rabbits ; that he must desist ; and that if he continues 

 to shoot, he will be summoned. The owner of a 

 free warren, also, may prosecute tenants of land 

 within the limits of the free warren if they kill 

 rabbits, or give permission to others to do so ; and 

 he should instruct his keeper to let it be known that 

 he claims the rabbits on the land of such persons 

 under a grant of free warren (see p. 55). It has been 

 decided also in several reported cases that a dog 

 found hunting rabbits in a warren may be killed by 

 the keeper or warrener ; and the owner of a franchise 

 of a park may kill a dog chasing game in the park.' 

 In other cases, a keeper would do well to abstain 

 from shooting a trespassing dog, or he may find him- 

 self made liable in damages to the owner.^ His 

 proper course is to give the owner of the dog notice 

 in writing to restrain him from trespassing, and to 

 intimate that, unless he does so, traps will be set. 



Should any doubt arise in the mind of a game- 

 keeper as to the ownership of a hedge in which he 

 may find snares set for rabbits or hares, he may note 



' Vere v. Lord Cawdor, 11 East, 568; Protheroe v. 

 Matthews, S C. and P. 581. 



^ See the report of a case at Cardiff in which a gamekeeper 

 was ordered to pay 12/. for shooting a dog while in pursuit of 

 a rabbit. — The Field, February 27, 1897. 



M 



