Johnson v. McConnell

Citations

• 80 Cal. 545
• 22 P. 219
• 1889 Cal. LEXIS 956

Syllabus

<p>Dogs — Malicious Killing. — Dogs are property, for the malicious destruction or injury of which an action for damages will lie.</p> <p>Id. —Statutory Protection of Sheep—Justification of Killing Dogs. — Section 3341 of the Civil Code, authorizing the killing of a dog at the time of finding him, not on the premises of the owner, worrying, wounding, or killing any sheep, does not justify a killing by a party who merely believes that the dog is worrying, wounding, or killing sheep, unless he is actually doing the wrongful act, and is immediately followed up and killed without allowing an escape out of sight, and not merely to prevent the dog from returning and injuring the sheep.</p> <p>Id.—Insufficiency of Findings—Worrying Sheep.—The findings in this case held insufficient to sustain a judgment justifying the defendant in killing the dogs of the plaintiff, or to show that they had been actually found worrying sheep when killed.</p>