KILLING DEER RAISED IN PRIVATE PARKS. 53 



private preserve is illustrated by the decision rendered in 1907 in the 

 case of Dieterich v. Fargo. a 



The American Express Company refused to receive and transport 

 deer raised and killed in a private preserve in Dutchess County. 

 The owner of the herd, Charles F. Dieterich, found it necessary to 

 kill some of the bucks each year and ship them to New York for 

 sale. On the refusal of the express company to transport his venison, 

 he applied for a temporary injunction against its president, James 

 C. Fargo, claiming that the law prohibiting transportation did not 

 apply to domesticated deer. The supreme court of New York 

 County, in December, 1906, decided in favor of Dieterich. This 

 decision was reversed by the appellate division of the supreme court 

 of the State, May 10, 1907, by a majority of the court. The opinion 

 by Justice O'Gorman was to the effect that the section of the law 

 prohibiting the transportation of deer from one county to another, 

 and requiring express companies to refuse to accept deer when not 

 accompanied by the owner, applied to domesticated as well as to wild 

 deer. The transportation of deer raised on a private preserve was 

 held to be subordinate to the police power of the State. One of the 

 dissenting opinions held that Dieterich had the same natural and 

 legal right to fence his farm and devote it to the propagation of 

 deer that he had to use it for raising cattle or sheep. 



To market his deer in 1908 Mr. Dieterich resorted to the novel 

 expedient of paying transportation for a number of men in the city 

 of New York to go to his country preserve, each shoot a deer and 

 accompany the carcass to market, as required by the law. However, 

 the New York court of appeals finally, February 23, 1909, reversed 

 the decision of the lower court and held — one of the six judges dis- 

 senting — that the law concerning transportation of venison did not 

 apply to that from domesticated deer bred in confinement, and that 

 the owner of such deer was not restricted as to the number he may 

 kill and ship during the open season. The law regulating transpor- 

 tation of venison has recently been amended to provide for shipment 

 from private preserves. 



As would be expected by those familiar with the history of British 

 deer preserves, the laws of the various Canadian Provinces are in 

 general more liberal toward the owners of private deer parks. The 

 general tariff law of Canada permits the export of any home-bred 

 deer under regulations made by the Governor General in Council. 



KILLING DEER RAISED IN" PRIVATE PARKS. 



The failure to except deer kept in private preserves from the opera- 

 tion of the laws providing a close season for wild deer prevents 

 the owner of deer from using the venison for food in his own family. 



102 N. Y„ Supp. 720. 



