Chap. 318.—An ACT for the Protection of Sheep in the County ot
Prince William, by a Tax on Dogs.

Appreved April 30, 1874.

1. Be it enacted by the genera] assembly, That it shall be
the duty of the township assessors for the county of Prince
William, to take annually, at the ¢ime of listing the taxable
property therein, a list of all dogs, (male and female,). with
the name of the owner or person in whose possession the
same are found, upon the oath and affirmation of the owner,
or housckeeper, or head of the family, with whom or on
whose lot or plantation any dog or.dogs may be found, as to
the number of dogs such person may own or have, or as may
be on his or her lot, plantation or premises, whether owned
by him or her or not; and shall return such lists of dogs to
the clerk’s office of said county, at the time when he returns
his list of taxable property, under the like fines, penalties and
forfeitures, as are now incurred by him for neglect of any
Similar duties in listing and returning lists of taxable pro-
erty.

P 2. That every dog kept or staying about. any house shall
be deemed sufficient evidence of ownership to authorize the
assessor to return the person inhabiting said house as the
owner of such dog; and every dog not returned, or if re-
turned, and the tax be not paid thereon, shall be deemed to
have no owner, and may be lawfully killed by any person
seeing him run at large. .

3. Upon complaint of any person to a justice of the peace,
that there is a dog staying about the premises of any person
that is not listed, the justice shall summon such person and
the assessor for the township to appear before bim, and give
evidence as to the listing and ownership of such dog, and if
it appear that the person charged with the ownership of such
dog is the owner theroef, and has failed to list the same, as
required by this act, the assessor shall thereupon list said
dog; and if the owner fail to pay the tax thereon, and the
cost thereby incurred, within ten days thereafter, he shall be
fined the sum of two dollars and costs, one-half of said fine
to g° to the informer, and in addition thereto the justice shall
order a constable to kill the said dog. The fees allowed un-
der this section, shall be those now allowed by law; and any

-onstable killing a dog under this provision, shall be entitled
tO receive a fee of fifty cents, to be paid out of the funds
raised under this act.

4. That the board of supervisors shall annually levy, and 1
cause to be collected, a tax upon said dogs, and to this end ®
they may, in their discretion, classify said dogs, and lay such
tax on each dog as they may think proper: provided, that in L
no case shall said tax be less than fifty cents nor more than ™
one dollar, upon each dog; and said tax shall be collected and 3
accounted for by the treasurer of said county, as district >
school funds are by law directed to be collected and accounted
for; and the said treasurer shall keep a separate account for a
each township of all money received and paid out under this £
act; and the said money shall be and is hereby appropriated p
ne @ fund for remunerating the inhabitants of said county for s.
any loss they may sustain by sheep being destroyed by a dog *
or dogs, and for the destruction of foxes, as hereinafter pro-
vided; and the residue, if any, remaining to the credit of any ¥
township, shall be subject to the order of the public school “
trustees of said township for public school Urpones provi-
ded, that the fund raised in one township chal not be paid p
out for sheep destroyed in or for the schools of another
townsibip.

5. That when any inhabitant of said county shall have any x
sheep killed by a dog or dogs, he or she may apply to the
supervisor or any justice of said township, to ascertain whe- k
ther said sheep have been killed as claimed, and to fix the ”
true value of said sheep so killed. If said supervisor or jus-
tice cannot conveniently perform said duty, they shall issue
their warrants to any three land owners of the vicinity for
that purpose (any two of whom may act). Said supervisors,
justice, or land owners shall certify, under their hands, upon

onor, as to the facts aforesaid, and shall deliver the same to
the owner of the sheep, who shall cause the same to be filed
with the clerk of the Poard of supervisors, and at the close
of each fiscal year, the clerk of the board of supervisors shall
present to the said board an account of the certificates and
the total amount claimed. At the same time the county
treasurer shall furnish the said board a statement of the P
amount to the credit of each township. under this act, and if, o
upon such estimate, it shall appear that the amount of tax
in any township will be insufficient to discharge the whole
amount of damages, the board shall apportion the amount
and pay to each sufferer in proportion to the loss sustained,
by drawing a warrant for the amount due him upon the
county treasurer. Said county treasurer and his sureties shall 1
be held to the same liability and responsibility upon his offi- $
cial bond as for the performance of other duties devolving ti
upon him by law. |

6. The tax imposed upon dogs under this act shall be in1
the nature of a license tax; and the owner of any dog who ©
has done all that is required of him by this act, shall have a4
right of action in trespass against any person who shall kill ¢
or injure said dog. If the damages are laid at fifty dollars
or less, a justice shall have jurisdiction thereof; if at more
than fifty dollars, the circuit court of said county shall bave
jurisdiction. Any person killing or injuring a dog whose
-owner has done all that is required of him by this act, shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction, shall be fined
not less than one dollar nor more than twenty: provided,
that in any suit brought under this section, either civil or
criminal, it shall be a lawful defence to show that the dog in
question has been a sheep killing dog, or that when killed or
injured the dog was in the act of committing serious injury
to either person or property without cause. Nothmg, how-
ever, in this act shall be construed as repealing sections five
or six, chapter one hundred and two of the Code of eighteen
hundred and seventy-three, or as affecting in any manner
any remedy now existing against dogs. :

7. The board of supervisors of said county may, in their
discretion, allow out of the funds received from the tax im-
posed by this act, a reward for killing foxes in said county
(not exceeding two dollars for red foxes, and one dollar for
y foxes); they may make any necessary regulations for
establishing the rights of parties claiming such rewards, and
for guarding against any fraudulent claims upon the county
arising under this act; they may determine whether the as-
sessor, clerk and county treasurer or other persons should
receive any additional compensation by reason of their duties
under this act, and may fix the amount of said additional
compensation as they may deem reasonable; they may make
‘any further and necessary regulations for the collection of
the tax provided for herein on the killing of dogs whose
owners have not paid the tax; and they may, in their discre-
tion, prescribe or furnish collars or checks, or tags, to be worn
by dogs whose owners have paid the tax as herein provided.

_ 8. This act shall be in force from its, passage.