Another point which has sometimes exercised the minds of those in the habit of carrying revolvers is whether they are justified in using such a weapon to put an end to pain on the part of dumb animals where recovery is almost impossible. It may be said generally that no one can with safety interfere in such cases, even with the most benevolent intentions, so that if a horse, dog, or other animal has been so injured as to be suffering extreme agony, yet it would not be legal to put the poor creature out of its misery, unless with the consent of the owner.
The exception has been made by the Injured Animals Act, 1894, but that only empowers a constable to kill a horse, mule, or ass which is so severely injured that it cannot be led away, when the owner is absent or refuses to consent to its destruction, after a certificate has been obtained from a certified veterinary surgeon that the animal is mortally injured or so severely that it is cruel to keep it alive.
The exception that has been introduced by the Act of Parliament passed in 1894 and called “The Injured Animals Act, 1894,” provides for the slaughter, without the owner’s consent, of horses, mules, or asses, in cases of injury so serious as to make it cruel to keep them alive. It does not apply to animals other than those enumerated above, and is hedged round with such restrictions as to render it of little avail. These in brief are as follows: A constable must find the animal so severely injured that it cannot without cruelty be led away, the owner must be absent or refuse to consent to the destruction of the animal, and the constable must obtain the certificate of a veterinary surgeon that the animal is mortally injured, or so severely that it is cruel to keep it alive. After doing all this the constable may kill the animal.
The foregoing statements as to the law are not exhaustive, but they are made with the intention of helping the revolver-carrying section of the public to know what they may be responsible for and on what occasions or emergency they may safely use their weapons. To make sure that no legal error has crept in, these statements have been submitted to Mr. C. Willoughby Williams, of No. 1 Brick Court, Temple, Barrister at Law, who is of opinion that the law as set out is correct.
It will be seen, from what is said above, that if a gun or a game license is obtained, it is not illegal to carry a loaded revolver, so that if any one had to go along a lonely road, or had received a threatening letter which had alarmed him, he would be quite in his right in taking about with him a loaded revolver. It would even be quite right for any one to carry about a loaded revolver in his pocket merely as a protection in case he should be unexpectedly attacked, but any one carrying about with him such an article should be prepared to use it only in cases of great emergency, and should keep a clear head on his shoulders.
Another example of the advantages of carrying a revolver would be if one were attacked by a mad dog. In such a case, if the dog attacked in a ferocious manner, it would be permissible to shoot the dog, but it would not be allowable to shoot a dog on the supposition that he was mad, unless he was attacking one; though, of course, if there were no doubt about the dog’s being mad, then, for the sake of others, it would be wise to shoot him.
Again, if while carrying a revolver any one were passed by a runaway horse, and such horse were about to run over a child, it might be permissible to shoot the horse in order to save the child, if one were too far off to catch hold of the animal. These, however, are all matters of degree, and what would be right and proper to do in one case might in a case almost similar be quite wrong.
Note.—Since the first edition of this book was issued, the Pistols Act of 1903 has come into force. This Act stops the sale, by retail or by auction, or the letting on hire, of any pistol (which would include a revolver), unless the purchaser has a gun or game license, or is entitled to use or carry a gun without such license, or unless the purchaser shows that he purposes to use the pistol only in his own house or the curtilage thereof, or that he is about to proceed abroad for a period of not less than six months. The Act also prevents the sale or hiring out of a pistol to a person under the age of 18 years, and places a very heavy penalty on any one knowingly selling a pistol to a person who is intoxicated or not of sound mind.