An Act Providing for Provincial Pounds and for Keepers thereof, and for the Disposition of Stolen Animals and Other Movable Property Captured or Seized by the Philippines Constabulary and Other Peace Officers

September 9, 1903

ACT NO. 877

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR PROVINCIAL POUNDS AND FOR KEEPERS THEREOF, AND FOR THE DISPOSITION OF STOLEN ANIMALS AND OTHER MOVABLE PROPERTY CAPTURED OR SEIZED BY THE PHILIPPINES CONSTABULARY AND OTHER PEACE OFFICERS

SECTION 1. It is hereby made the duty of the provincial board of each province to provide a provincial pound for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act.

SECTION 2. The provincial supervisor of each province of the Philippine Islands is hereby designated as keeper of the provincial pound.

SECTION 3. In all cases where cattle, carabaos, horses, or other animals, or any other kind of movable property, are captured or seized by the Philippines Constabulary or other peace officers, as stolen property or property suspected of having been stolen by the parties found in possession thereof, it shall be the duty of the Constabulary and other peace officers to deliver such animals or other property to the provincial supervisor for disposition as hereinafter provided. The provincial supervisor shall deliver a receipt therefor to the officer so delivering such animals or property to him describing the animals by giving the class or kind, the approximate age, brands if any, colors, and such other marks as may be helpful in identifying the same, and by giving a sufficient description of any other movable property to identify the same.

SECTION 4. It shall be the duty of the provincial supervisor, within three days after taking possession of such captured or seized property, to advertise the same by posting a notice at the door of the provincial building and by mailing to the president of each municipality in the province a copy of such notice for posting at the door of the respective municipal buildings, giving a complete and accurate description of such animals or other property, and calling upon the owner or owners thereof to appear at the provincial pound with the necessary evidence to prove the ownership thereof; and that if the owner or owners of such animals or other property shall not appear within the period of thirty days from the date of such announcement, such animals or animals or other property described will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder for cash.

SECTION 5. The provincial supervisor is hereby authorized to feed and care for such animals as may be delivered to him under the provisions of this Act, and to recover the expense thereof from the owner or owners of such animals in the event that ownership in the same shall be proved, and to deduct the expense of the maintenance of each animals from the amount received for such animal at public auction, in the event that the ownership thereof is not established previous to sale at public auction. In case the owner of an animal or other movable property refuses or fails to pay the expenses of the keep thereof within five days after notice of the amount due, the animal or other property shall be sold in the manner herein provided for the sale of unclaimed animals or property, and the amount due for keep shall be taken out of the proceeds of sale and the balance returned to the owner.

SECTION 6. The proceeds from the public sale of animals and other movable property not claimed and identified by their owner or owners shall be paid into the provincial treasury by the provincial supervisor. The purchaser at sales provided in this Act shall receive good and indefeasible title to the property sold.

SECTION 7. In the event that any owner or owners of animals or other property sold at public auction pursuant to the foregoing provisions shall appear and present evidence of title to such animals or other property, it shall be the duty of the provincial supervisor to receive such evidence of title and deliver the same to the provincial board of the province, and the provincial board is hereby authorized to examine such proofs, and if, in the opinion of the provincial board, the same are sufficient to establish title to the animals or other property claimed, the provincial board is hereby empowered to authorize the payment to such claimant or claimants of the net proceeds thereof: Provided, however, That no such claim for proceeds of animals or other property sold at public auction, as provided by this Act, shall be received or allowed after the lapse of one year from the date of such public sale.

SECTION 8. The public good requiring the speedy enactment of this bill, the passage of the same is hereby expedited in accordance with section two of "An Act prescribing the order of procedure by the Commission in the enactment of laws," passed September twenty-sixth, nineteen hundred.

SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect on its passage.

ENACTED, September 9, 1903. cSEDTC