Chap. 568.—An ACT for the protection of sheep in Amherst county.

Approved March 2, 1894.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall

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to take annually, at the time of listing the taxable property therein,
a list of all dogs, showing whether male or female, with the name of
‘the owner or person in whose possession the same are found. The
commissioners shall require the owner or householder or head of the
family with whom or on whose lot or plantation any dog or dogs
may he found to make oath or affirmation as to the number of doga
such person may own or have, or as may be kept on his lot, planta-
tion or premises, whether owned by him or her or not; and an accu-
rate list of dogs shall be returned to the clerk’s office and a copy of
said list to the county treasurer at the time when said commissioners
return their lists of taxable property: provided that the commis-
sioners shall not be required to list any dog under three (3) months
old. Any commissioner failing herein shall be subject to the same
fines, penalties and forfeitures which he would incur under existing
laws for neglect of any of his duties in listing and returning lists of
taxable property.

2. Every dog kept or staying about any house shall be deemed suf-
ficient evidence of ownership to authorize the commissioner to re-
turn the person occupying said house as the owner of such dog; and
every dog not returned, or if returned and the tax herein author-
ized be not paid, shall be deemed to have no owner, and may be law-
fully killed by any person seeing him run at large.

3. Upon complaint of any person toa justice of the peace that
there is a dog kept or staying about the premises of any person that
is not listed, but which ought to have been listed, the justice shall
summon such person and the commissioner of the revenue to appear
before him, and sball hear and decide the case; and if the complaint
be found to be true, the commissioner shall thereupon list said dog;
and if the owner shall fail to pay the tax imposed by the next sec-
tion and the cost of such complaint, within ten days thereafter, he
or she shall be fined two dollars and costs. In any case where the
owner of a dog is delinquent in the payment of the tax on the same,
or any fine arising from a non-compliance with this act, it shall be
the duty of the constable of the district to take possession of the
dog or dogs, and, if he deem it necessary, to remove the same from
the premises, and after an elapse of twenty-four hours, if the delin-
quent do not then pay the tax and costs, then he shall kill the dog
or dogs, for which he shall receive a fee of fifty cents for every dog
he kills from the party delinquent, if collectible; if not, then out
of the fund hereinafter provided; and to that end the constable
shall obtain a list from the county treasurer of all delinquent in
his district when he returns his delinquent list, and shall in thirty
days discharge his duty in this behalf; and on failure go to do he
shall be fined by any justice of the peace in his district one dollar for
each dog he so fails to kill, and be responsible for any damage such
dog may do to sheep in consequence of his neglect.

4. When said commissioners of the revenue shall have ascertained
the number of dogs, they shall assess a license tax of one dollar per
head on all male dogs and spayed bitches, and on every bitch or
female dog not spayed two dollars and fifty cents shall be assessed,
Tor the privilege of keeping the Sanies! dnd said sums so assessed
shall be collected and accounted for by the county treasurer as
county levies are by law directed to be collected and accounted for;
and the treasurer shall keep a separate account for the fund arising
from the said tax and the fines or penalties resulting from the exe-
cution of this act. The said fund shall be appropriated—first, to
the payment of the fees, charges and other expenses incurred in en-
forcing this act; second, for remunerating the owners of sheep in
said county for any loss they may sustain by the killing or crippling
their sheep by dogs; third, for paying such premiums as are herein-
after provided for; -fourth, the residue to be applied to the building
or repairing of the public roads.

5. It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors, whenever any
owner of sheep or agent shall produce satisfactory evidence on oath
before them that his or her sheep have been killed or severely
wounded by dogs other than his or her own, to order the payment
of damages sustained by the owner, so that the damages or amount
allowed per head shall be equal to the average assessed value of
sheep in said county, subject, however, to such discretionary powers
as are given them in section six as regards amount of funds col-
lected, and so forth.

6. The board of supervisors shall allow, out of the fund created
by this act, a premium of fifty cents for the scalp of a mink or gray
fox, one dollar for the scalp of a red fox, two dollars for the scatp of
a wildcat and five dollars for the scalp of a wolf, upon satisfactory
evidence to the said board that the same were caught and killed
within the limits of said county: provided, however, that no one
shall receive pay for the scalp of a gray or red fox unless he be the
owner or part owner of a pack of hounds, the minimum number of
which shall be two. They shall have discretion to order the pay-
ment, in whole or in part, of the claims for damages to sheep accord-
ing to the amount of funds collected under this act and the equita-
ble right of each application. They shall order the payment of all
fees and charges in enforcing this act, and they shall] also order the
payment into the county treasury, to be applied as directed in sec-
tion four, of any surplus which may remain of this fund. It shall
be the duty of the attorney for the commonwealth to be present and
present the interests of the county when claims under this act are

ecided.

7. All claims arising under the fifth and six sections of this act
shall be audited by the board of supervisors, and all payments shall
be on order or warrant of the board, signed by the chairman and
certified by the clerk of the board.

8. The treasurer shall annually, at the yearly meeting of the
board of supervisors, make a settlement with said board of his
een of this fund, which settlement shall be recorded by the
clerk.

9. The fees of officers employed in the execution of this act shall
be similar to those received for like services in other cases, except
that each commissioner of the revenue shall receive not less than
thirty nor more than eighty dollars per annum for his services
under this act; and where none are provided by law, the board of
Bupervisors shall make such compensation as they may deem right,
all of which shall be paid out of the aforesaid fund.

10. This act shall not affect sections twenty-one hundred and
ninety-two and twenty-one hundred and ninety-three of the code of
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven.

11. This act shall be in force from its passage.