Full Statute Name:  Tennessee Code: Article V: Cruelty to Animals

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Primary Citation:  Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 1668-1672 (1858) Country of Origin:  United States Last Checked:  December, 2019 Date Adopted:  1858 Historical: 
Summary: Tennessee's laws concerning cruelty to animals from 1858. The laws cover what qualifies as cruelty to animals to the punishment to be given a slave that is cruel to animals.

ARTICLE V.

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS.

SECTION 1668. If any person cruelly beat, torture, or use any horse, ox, dog, or other animal in which individuals may have property, whether his own or a third person's, he shall for fifty dollars forfeit fifty dollars for each offence, to any person who will therefor.

SECTION 1669. Any person who in any way disfigures such an animal not his own, so as not to fall within the provisions of the proceeding section, shall forfeit twenty-five dollars for each offence, to any person who will sue therefor.

SECTION 1670. It is the duty of Justices of the Pace, sheriffs, and constables, to see that the foregoing provisions of law for the protection of animals are carried out; and in such cases, the officer bringing the offender to justice is entitled, besides his legal costs, to one half the penalty, the other half to go into the treasury of the county.

SECTION 1671. The provisions of this article do not affect the rights of the owner of an injured animal to his suit for damage, nor do away with the penalties of the criminal code in such cases.

SECTION 1672. If either of the offences mentioned in this article is committed by a slave, he may be punished by not less than ten nor more than thirty-nine stripes, under the order of any Justice of the Peace before whom he is brought and convicted.

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