Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 January 1901 — Right To Kill A Dog. [ARTICLE]

Right To Kill A Dog.

Allison A. Walker shot Edward E. Sowel’s d<?g. Walker was marshal of the city of Hammond, The mayor, Fred R. Mott, fearing hydrophobia, had issued a proclamation forbidding dogs to run at large without muzzles. Towle refused to muzzle his dog, and when the marshal shot it, he brought suit against the marshal and mayor for damages. It was a St. Bernard dog and he recovered judgement for $l4B damages in the Porter Circuit court, from which an appeal was taken to the Supreme court. The mayor’s proclamation had been issued under an ordinance authorizing him to forbid dogs to run at large without muzzels, whenever he apprehended danger from the spread of hydrophobia, and directing the marshal to kill ait unpauizled dogs found running at large while such proclamation was in force. In reversing the judgement recovered by the owner of the deceased dog, Judge Monks said that cities have the right to post ordinances requiring persons to muzzle their dogs or keep them on their own premises and empowering the marshal to kill all dogs running at large in violation of the ordinance, and the fact that this ordinance was only operative in times of danger from hydrophobia to be ascertained by the mayor and made known by his proclamation, did not affect its validity.