The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-28
DOGS AS EXPERT WITNESSES
a. REOUS CASES or "BLOODHOTND
TESTIMONY"
courts Ms u General Thing Have Ruled That
In AdmlsslbIc " the Witness II First
RuaiIned as an E.xpcrt-IBarbaric GJs-
tom, some DIsa approving Judges say.

tom. some Dis spDroVIDE Judges say.
The remarkable acutencss OF scent with
which the bloodhound is gifted and the
Intelligence and pertinacity with which
" pursues "A trail upon which it has been
laid are qualities which have long been
known. hut the advent Of the bloodhound
IA a witness in a court Of law IN a develop
ment comparat lively modern. A crime il
committed. and he owner Of "A bloodhound
brings the dog to the scene Of the crime "a
soon thereafter M possible The hound
apparently picks up a scent and follows IL
until II lands him at the door Of some one.
possibly already under suspicion.
This party il placed under arreSt and upon
his trial the owner ~ the hound takes the
stand "a a witness for the State. He tells
the jury Of he excellent stock from which
his hound was taken and of the natural
aptitude of the dog for tracking human
beings He gives an ont line Of the training
Of the dog in the art Of following human
tracks. and in response 20 the questioning
of the prosecuting attorney recites the
various Successes with which the dog has
met. Then finally he states the facts in
connection with the trailing in the case on
trial. In all of this the dog il the real
witness. While the master gives testi-
mony az to the past record of the hound
he is merely laying the foundation for the
dogs testimony as an expert. The dog
qualities as an expert in much the same
manner as an alienist. and when the
master give evidence OF the trailing OF the
defendant from the place where the crime
was committed 10 his very front doorstep
il is equivalent to a statement by the dog
that, in his opinion. the defendant is guilty
" tho crime charged.
The question Of he admissibility of evil
dcnCe of this kind has been brought up In
four States Alabama. Ohio. North Caro-
lima and Kentucky. Whenever such evil
dence has been offered by the State in the
trial Of an alleged criminal its admission
has bcen objected to on behalf Of the de-
PENDANT. but II has uniformly been held
that where the dog in question is shown to
have been properly trained the evidence
is competent.
The earliest instance which the writer
has found Of the acceptance Of testimony
as To- the actions Of a bloodhound in a crimi-
nal trial in his country il found in the case
Of Hodge W.. State. decided in November,
1897. and reported in 9s Ala. 10. The de-
lfiAltihl "lS AlFIt NllCu " Nv biii WI w
one Rose S~tanhack. who was shot and
killed upon the doorstep Of her home.
The evidence showed that a number OF
n~eighbors went TO the home Of the deceased
Immediately after the shooting and saw
shot holes in the doorstep. which indicated
the direction from which the shot came.
Near the rear Of the house in the direction
suggested by the location of the shot holes
- "a ~ -l- r. --.~ L.-
peculiar tracks and easily identified wher-
ever seen. A bloodhound was put upon
these tracks and trailed them directly to
the defendants house The defendant was
captured shortly afterward and had on
the shoes hat had apparently made the
tracks An objection was interposed as TO
the admission OF the testimony in regard
10 the TRAILING, but it was overruled and
on appeal It was held that the evidence as
TO the trailing was competent TO go to the
Jury for consideration with the other evil
dence as "a circumstance tending to con
meet the defendant with the crime.
In the case of Hargrove Va. State, which
came mp in the Supreme Court Of Alabama.
~ So. Rep. a72. the defendant was tried
and found guilty on an indictment charging
him with the crime of burglary. A wit
ness who had trailed the defendant with
his dogs testified that he was in the bust
ness of running b~loodhounds and that
hhs two dogs were trained to trail human
beings" One If the dogs had had four
years training. The other was two years
old and had experience also" The wit
ness said that these two dogs during a
period OF four years had tracked sixty or
seventy persons. 1t was held that upon
the siren 9Th OF the evidence az TO the nature
and training Of the dogs the testimony
as - the trailing Of the defendant was adj
MISSILE
In Ohio the question came up in the
trial of Thomas Hall for burglary. 5 Ohio
n. p 1875. On the day following the burg
larry a basket filled with part OF the stolen
property was found in a freight yard not
lar from the place which had been robbed.
A witness called by the State declared that
he WAS the owner Of "A nine-year-old blood
hound which had previously been put to
severe tests and had proved his ability TO
trail. He had started on the track of per-
SONS who had set of on foot from twenty
TO forty hours ahead and had successfully
tr8iled them. He had been tested in follow
ing tracks from places where crimes rae
been committed and IN a number of cases
persons trailed by the dog had confessed.
Immediately upon the finding Of the
basket tins hound was put on the scent.
He stared on with all the acts and indica-
lions OF trailing and finally brought up at the
rout gate of the house in which the de-
fepdant lived Ii was the opinion of the
Court that, whatever might he said OF the
wifd I'm or humanity of resorting to this
mea' + Of detecting and securing the appre-
hcnsipn Of criminals, there could he no
doubt that, where n well Gained dog is
placed upon a recent track and follows il
IN tho usual manner Of the hound, 'hese
facts may be shown az tending to connect
the defendant with the crime charged. ,
A case in which testimony as TO trailing
VAS illlct out ia that Of STATE vs.. Moore.
NORTH Carolina. 81 l.. U. A. on. There IL
appeared hat a grocery store had been
robl ed Several supposedly guilty parties
were taken into custody and one OF the
crowd tuanci States evidence His testi-
mpny, however. was weakened by its being
sh pSn that he was the only one OF the mum
Der in whose possession any Of the stolen
~ operty WIS found.
90 "us ais Pr wed that Mr.. Sam Laugh.
, " rsa. rho MlVis. rate Def ire whom n,
vast -" + r trial H. the hrst instance. gave
IN Whsle, a d rromised 10 turn him
! 80 { he would toll on the other boys a. q
M the yr iset ming win ess gave him 10
cen = ADD ayrGed 10 give him ! ST. II Greater
81 u he would slics 10 what he had sworn
- IN ihr Magistrates court. 1he State
Thea trcdlced a wit"ess WHO was per-