1660 LAWS OF MARYLAND [CH. 544

provisions. There shall be no liability on such persons in
damages or otherwise for such killing. Any unlicensed dog
that enters any field or yard shall constitute a private
nuisance and the owner or tenant of such field or yard, or
other agent or servant, may kill such dog while it is in the
field or yard without liability or responsibility of any
nature for such killing and any person may kill a female
dog running at large while in heat without liabilities
therefor [. ]; except, however, that in Montgomery County
it shall be unlawful for any person to kill any dog pursuant
to the provisions of this section unless he sees such dog in
the act of pursuing, worrying, wounding or killing any
poultry, livestock, or attacking human beings.

330. When any inhabitant of any county shall have any
sheep, poultry or livestock destroyed or injured by a dog
or dogs, he may apply to any Justice of the Peace of said
county, who shall appoint three disinterested persons as
appraisers to view and appraise the damages by him sus-
tained, and they, or a majority of them, under oath, shall
state in writing to the County Commissioners of said
county, the number of sheep, poultry; or livestock killed,
the character and extent of the injury, if any done, and
the amount of the damages sustained by the owner; and
both the appraisers and the owner of the sheep, poultry or
livestock shall make oath that they believe the same to
have been destroyed or injured by a dog or dogs; and when
the report of such proceedings has been filed, the County
Commissioners of said county shall review said report, and
if in their judgment the amount of damages stated is un-
fair, they shall award such amount as they may deem fair;
which award shall be paid out of the fund hereby created;
provided, however, that the said sworn report of the ap-
praisers shall be deemed prima facie evidence of the fair-
ness of the award of damages in each instance; and pro-
vided, further, that the County Commissioners shall not
change such an award unless they shall have personal
knowledge of its unfairness, or shall receive competent
testimony to the effect that the award is in excess of a fair
commercial valuation of the sheep, poultry or livestock in-
jured or destroyed by dogs. And if the owner of the dog
or dogs doing the damage be known, it shall be the duty
of the County Commissioners to notify such owner or
owners to kill said dog or dogs immediately. If such dog
or dogs be killed by the owner, after notice as aforesaid,
he shall be exempt from all further liability, but in case
the said owner or owners shall refuse or neglect to kill
said dog or dogs upon notice as aforesaid, the said owner