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The Dog's Right
Does a dog with an affectionate heart have the right to choose its master? A curious and rather touching case, tried the other day in London, seems to have definitively proven this, especially since the sentiment was able to successfully rely on an old law that the prosecution had forgotten.
It concerned a magnificent black spaniel, of very good breed, who, as soon as he arrived at the court, won the sympathy of the presiding judge by going straight to him and placing both paws on his knees, wagging his tail, his bright eyes fixed on him. After that, the presiding judge knew nothing to refuse him. The gentle creature, lost in September, had been found by an old carter who, as soon as he had the leisure, honestly returned him to his owner. But the dog was not happy in his aristocratic home: he retained a nostalgia for the old man who had taken him in. In January, he disappeared and came, full of trust, to the humble but hospitable home.
The carter wanted to chase him away, but the dog persisted. He spent the whole night on the threshold, and when in the morning, his chosen master saw him still there, he didn't feel up to returning him to the legal owner. This was precisely what the latter complained about; he even accused poor carter Salter of having stolen a valuable animal from him. But the just judge was not unaware that an ancient law states that if a dog becomes attached to a man and of its own free will wants to stay with him, the man is not legally obliged to notify the owner. Consequently, Salter was acquitted and left triumphant, followed by the beautiful spaniel with a warm heart. The plaintiff was awarded only... the collar!
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