COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2390
(By Delegates Williams and Tabb)
(Originating in the Committee on Finance)
[February 26, 2007]
A BILL to amend and reenact º19-20-10, º19-20-15, º19-20-16, º19-
20-17 and º19-20-18 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, all relating to domestic animals and livestock;
adding any animal raised for domestic or commercial
agricultural purposes to provisions providing compensation to
persons having suffered loss or damage on account of the
destruction, loss, or injury by dogs and provisions relating
to the consequences of a dog that has chased, worried, wounded
or killed such animals.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That º19-20-10, º19-20-15, º19-20-16, º19-20-17 and º19-20-18
of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and
reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 20. DOGS AND CATS.
§19-20-10. Dog and kennel fund; disposition thereof.
All registration fees, head taxes, and fees and costs for impounding and disposing of dogs, as provided in this article, and
collected thereunder, shall be paid into the county treasury where
they shall constitute and be set aside as a special fund to be
designated the "dog and kennel fund."
The county commission shall expend such fund, and issue drafts
payable therefrom, for the following purposes, and no others: To
pay the actual expenses incurred by the county commission, the
county assessor, and the sheriff in carrying out the provisions of
this article; to pay for the services of the dog warden, his
deputies, poundkeepers, and such other persons as may be employed,
if any, or may render services, in actually carrying out the
provisions of this article; to pay in its discretion to the dog
warden and his deputies mileage at the rate up to fifteen cents per
mile for the use of their privately owned vehicles actually used in
carrying out the provisions of this article; to pay for the
purchase, procurement, rental, construction, operation, maintenance
and repair of any property, devices or facilities reasonably
necessary and required to carry out the provisions of this article;
to compensate any department of the state government or any local
board of health for any necessary service rendered in connection
with this article; to pay the costs of any rabies control project
or program authorized by law; to compensate any persons who have
suffered loss or damage on account of the destruction, loss, or
injury by dogs of any sheep, lamb, goat, kid,
or poultry
or any
animal raised for domestic or commercial agricultural purposes when
such claims have been proved and allowed as provided in this article.
Provided, however, That such compensation authorized by
the county commission shall not exceed an amount double the
assessed value of the destroyed or injured animals or poultry as
shown on the assessor's records, and in the event such animals are
not assessed, then compensation authorized by said court shall not
exceed the average assessed value of like animals or poultry, or if
no like animal or poultry is assessed, then not to exceed the
Payment shall be the fair market value as determined by the county
commission.
In the event that the dog and kennel fund shall in any year be
insufficient to pay the several items set forth in this section,
then the county commission may be, and it is hereby, authorized and
empowered to pay such items out of the county general fund. Any
surplus of the dog and kennel fund remaining unexpended in the
county treasury, and, in the opinion of the county commission, not
needed for the payment and satisfaction of claims and expenses as
herein provided, shall annually be paid into and credited to the
county school fund, but the funds thus used shall be in an amount
deemed proper and safe in the judgment and discretion of the county
commission.
§19-20-15. Assessment of damages; appraisers.
Authority is hereby given to magistrates and notaries public
within this state, and within their respective jurisdictions, to
summon three substantial, upright and worthy bona fide residents,
citizens and taxpayers of his county to assess the damages suffered
by any person on account of the destruction, loss or injury of any sheep, lambs, goats, kids, calves, cattle, swine, show or breeding
rabbits, horses, colts,
or poultry
or any animal raised for
domestic or commercial agricultural purposes by dogs within the
county. The appraisers shall be appointed upon the request of a
person suffering damages on account of such destruction, loss or
injury. The appraisers shall go upon the ground and investigate
fully the extent of the destruction, loss or injury, taking all the
evidence deemed necessary to arrive at the facts to be passed upon
in arriving at the amount of damage, if any, suffered by the party
making the complaint. Before the appraisers may be summoned by the
magistrate or notary public, the complainant shall be required to
make a sworn complaint before the magistrate or notary public,
setting out in plain, easily comprehensible terms the facts
concerning his damages to the best of his knowledge. After making
a full investigation of the facts involved, the appraisers, with
the assistance of the magistrate or notary public, shall make a
sworn statement and report the facts ascertained and the damages
suffered. The report and statement shall be filed with the county
commission or the clerk thereof in vacation. The fees and mileage
for services allowed in such cases shall be the same as are allowed
magistrates, witnesses and arbitrators in magistrates' courts in
this state for similar services. In the event that the appraisers
find that the complainant has suffered no damage, then the
complainant shall be responsible for and pay all the costs and
expenses of the proceeding. In the event that the complainant has
suffered damages on account of the destruction, loss or injury of his domestic animals, according to the finding of the appraisers,
the owner, keeper or person permitting the dog, or dogs, causing
the damage to remain upon the premises under his control shall be
liable for all damages sustained by the complainant, including all
costs and necessary expenses. All of the damages shall be
collectible by an action at law before any court or magistrate
having jurisdiction of the matter. All papers in connection with
any claim shall be filed and preserved in the office of the clerk
of the county commission.
§19-20-16. When lawful to kill dog.
A person may kill a dog that he may see chasing, worrying,
wounding or killing any sheep, lambs, goats, kids, calves, cattle,
swine, show or breeding rabbits, horses, colts,
or poultry
or any
animal raised for domestic or commercial agricultural purposes
outside of the enclosure of the owner of the dog, unless the
chasing or worrying be done by the direction of the owner of the
sheep, lambs, goats, kids, calves, cattle, swine, show or breeding
rabbits, horses, colts,
or poultry
or any animal raised for
domestic or commercial agricultural purposes.
§19-20-17. Unlawful to harbor dog; penalty.
A person who shall harbor or secrete or aid in secreting a dog
which he knows or has reasons to believe has worried, chased or
killed any sheep, lambs, goats, kids, calves, cattle, swine, show
or breeding rabbits, horses, colts
or, poultry
or any animal raised
for domestic or commercial agricultural purposes
not the property
of the owner of the dog, out of his enclosure, or knowingly permits the same to be done on any premises under his control, is guilty of
a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, before any court or
magistrate having jurisdiction thereof in the county in which the
offense is committed, shall be fined not less than ten dollars nor
more than fifty dollars, and, at the discretion of the court or
magistrate, imprisoned in the county regional jail not more than
thirty days. Each day that the dog is harbored, kept or secreted
shall constitute a separate offense.
§19-20-18. Duty of owner to kill dog; proceeding before
magistrate on failure of owner to kill.
The owner or keeper of a dog that has been worrying, wounding,
chasing or killing any sheep, lambs, goats, kids, calves, cattle,
swine, show or breeding rabbits, horses, colts or, poultry or any
animal raised for domestic or commercial agricultural purposes
not
the property of the owner or keeper, out of his enclosure, shall,
within forty-eight hours, after having received notice thereof in
writing from a reliable and trustworthy source, under oath, kill
the dog or direct that the dog be killed. If the owner or keeper
refuses to kill the dog as hereinbefore provided, the magistrate,
upon information, shall summon the owner or keeper of the dog, and,
after receiving satisfactory proof that this dog did the mischief,
shall issue a warrant on application being made by the owner of the
sheep, lambs, goats, kids, calves, cattle, swine, show or breeding
rabbits, horses, or colts, or poultry or any animal raised for
domestic or commercial agricultural purposes killed; and give it
into the hands of the sheriff, who shall kill the dog forthwith or dispose of by other available methods. The cost of the proceedings
shall be paid by the owner or keeper of the dog so killed,
including a fee of fifty cents to the officer killing the dog.
The owner or keeper of the dog so killed shall, in addition to the
costs, be liable to the owner of the sheep, lambs, goats, kids,
calves, cattle, swine, show or breeding rabbits, horses, colts, or
poultry or any animal raised for domestic or commercial
agricultural purposes or to the county commission for the value of
the sheep, lambs, goats, kids, calves, cattle, swine, show or
breeding rabbits, horses, or colts, or poultry or any animal raised
for domestic or commercial agricultural purposes so killed or
injured.
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