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37 Ala. 430

White v. Brantley

Supreme Court of Alabama

Decided January 15, 1861

Supreme Court of Alabama · decided 1861-01-15

Tried before the Hon. Nat. Cook. This action was brought by 'the appellant, to recover damages for killing a dog.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1861-01-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently May 1939

4 state decisions

1018611870188018901900191019201930decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

A. J. WALKER, C. J.

¶1Doga' are animals domitas natures; and although they may not be¡ in the estimation *431of the common law, of such value as that the stealing oi them amounts to laTceny, yet an action at law lies for destroying them. There is no distinction between them and other chattels, as to the possession necessary to the maintenance of an action of trespass. There is a distinction as to animals ferce natures; but-'dogs are not' animals ferae, natures.- — 4 Black. Com. 236 ; Ireland v. Higgins, Cro. Eliz. 125 ; Wright v. Ramscot, 1 Saunders’ R. 105 ; The Case of Swans, 7 Rep. 18 ; Parker v. Mise, 27, Ala. 480. It follows, that, to the maintenance of this.- action, it was not requisite that the plaintiff should have had actual possession of the dog. If he was the owner of the dog, and the dog was loaned out at the time, the general property, “prima facie, as to - all civil purposes, .draws to it the possession.”

¶2Reversed and remanded.'

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