is refponfible
for a l l accidents.
He is alfo re-
fponfible for
any injury
fu (lamed
from a large
ilone, thrown
up by the animal’s
hoof:
but not for
any accident
occafioned by
its dung or
urine,
unlefs he had
flopped it on
the road un-
neceflarily
whilft dif-
xharging
thofe.
its hind-feet, or a ftroke of its tail, fince it is poflible for him to avoid
flopping, although it be not in his power to guard the animal from
kicking, or fo forth ; and therefore, as he tranfgrefl'es in fo flopping,
he is refponfible for any damage which may enfue in confequence.
I f an animal’ s hoof ftrike. upon and throw up gravel or fmall
.flones, and a perfon’s eye be put out, or his clothes damaged thereby,
the rider is not refponfible ; whereas, if the animal fo throw up a
large flone, he is refponfible. T h e reafon of this is that in the former
cafe it was impoflible to guard againfl the accident, fince an animal
cannot move without being liable to i t ; whereas, in the fecond in-
ftance, it is poflible to guard againfl the accident, fince animals may
eafily be fo guided as to avoid large flones. It is to be obferved that,
in all thefe cafe's, a fecond rider (that is, one who rides behind the
firfl) is in the fame predicament as the firft, with refpect to refpon-
fibility.
If an animal, whilft travelling, difcharge its dung or urine on the
highway, and any perfon perifh in confequence, the rider is not refponfible,
fince it was impoflible to guard againft this; and the fame
rule alfo holds where the animal ftands ftill whilft difcharging its dung
or urine, or when the rider flops it for this purpofe, fince there are
feveral animals which cannot perform thefe whilft in motion. If,
however, the rider have flopped the animal for any other purpofe, and
it difcharge its dung or urine, and any perfon perifh in confequence,
he [the rider] is refponfible, as in fo doing he was guilty of a tranf-
greffion, fince he flopped the animal without any abfolute neceflity,
knowing, at the fame time, that this mult be injurious to the paf-
fengers.
T he driver of an animal is refponfible for any damage the animal
may occafion with either its fore or hind-feet, whereas the leader of an
animal is refponfible for the damage occafioned by its /ore-feet only,
not by its hind-feet. T h e compiler of the Heddya remarks that this
is what is faid by Kadooree in his compendium ;— and feveral of our
modern doctors coincide in the fame opinion ; becaufe, as; a perfon
who drives an animal before him has a view of his hind-feet, it is
therefore in his power to avoid accidents from them ; whereas, a perfon
who leads an animal after him, not feeing or having any command
over its hind-feet, cannot poflibly guard againfl fuch accidents. Mofl
of our modern doctors, however, are of opinion that as the driver of
an animal has no more command over its hind-feet than a perfon who
leads it, he therefore is not refponfible, any more than the other,
for the damage which may be occafioned by them;— and this is approved.
It is written in the Jama Sagheer, that the driver or leader of an
animal is refponfible in all the inflances ■ in which refiponfilsility lies
againfl the rider; for as they (as well as one who rides) occafion the
damage by taking the animal to the place where it is committed, their
fo doino-is therefore reftricled to the condition of fafety, as far as
may be pradlicable, in the fame manner as- holds' with refpedt to the
rider. -
T he rider of an animal is required to perform expiation only
where he has happened to tread down a perfon,— not in any other in-
ftance;— but no expiatory act whatever is required from the leader or
driver of an animal. The' reafon of this is that, in the cafe of treading
down a perfon, the rider is, in effedt, the perpetrator of the homicide,
as it is by his weight that the perfon is deftroyed,— the- weight of the
animal being merely a dependant upon the weight of its rider, fince
to him the motion of it mull be referred, it being the inurnment of fuch
motion.
Refponfibi-
lity attaching
to the d r iv e r
or leader of
an animal.
Expiation is
required from
the rider of
an animal,—
not from the
leader or
d r iv e r .