2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 81. Livestock › Chapter 4. Containment of Livestock › Part 2. Animals Unlawfully Running at Large › 81-4-217. Retention of trespassing stock

81-4-217. Retention of trespassing stock.
(1) If an animal breaks into an enclosure surrounded by a legal fence or is wrongfully on the premises of another, the owner or occupant of the enclosure or premises may take into possession the trespassing animal and keep the animal until all damages, together with reasonable charges for keeping and feeding the animal, are paid. The person who takes the animal into possession shall, within 24 hours after taking possession, give written notice to the owner or person in charge of the animal, stating that the animal has been taken. The notice must also give the date of the taking, the description of the animal taken, including marks and brands, if any, the amount of damages claimed, the charge per head per day for caring for and feeding the animal, and the description, either by legal subdivisions or other general description, of the location of the premises on which the animal is held.
(2) The notice must be given to the owner or person in charge only when the owner or person in charge of the animal is known to the person taking the animal and resides within 25 miles of the premises on which the animal was taken. If the owner or person in charge of the animal resides more than 25 miles from the place of the taking, the notice must be mailed to the owner. In this case or if the owner is unknown, a similar notice must be mailed to the department of livestock and the sheriff of the county in which the animal has been taken. On receipt of the notice, the sheriff shall post a copy of the notice at the courthouse and shall send by certified mail a copy of it to the owner of the stock, if known to the sheriff. If unknown, the sheriff shall send a copy of the notice to the nearest state livestock inspector.
(3) If the parties within 5 days after receipt of the notice do not agree to the amount of damages, the claimant shall within 10 days institute a civil action to collect the claim in a court of competent jurisdiction. Pending the outcome of the suit, the person taking the stock may, at the expense of the owner, retain a sufficient number of animals to cover the amount of damages claimed by the person taking the stock. The owner or person in charge of the animal may, after the institution of the action, on filing a bond executed by two or more sureties and approved by the court in double the sum sued for, conditioned upon the payment to the claimant of all sums, including costs that may be recovered by the claimant, have all livestock returned. The claimant is liable to the owner for any loss or injury to the stock occurring through the claimant's fault or neglect. If the claimant fails to recover in the action a sum equal to that offered by the owner of the stock, the claimant bears the expense of keeping and feeding the stock while in the claimant's possession.
(4) A person who takes or rescues an animal from the possession of the person taking the animal, without the consent of the person taking the animal, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable as provided in 46-18-212.
History: En. Sec. 8, p. 48, L. 1881; re-en. Sec. 1120, 5th Div. Comp. Stat. 1887; re-en. Sec. 3259, Pol. C. 1895; re-en. Sec. 2091, Rev. C. 1907; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 231, L. 1921; re-en. Sec. 3379, R.C.M. 1921; re-en. Sec. 3379, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 146, Ch. 310, L. 1974; amd. Sec. 51, Ch. 12, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 46-1410; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 35, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 92, L. 1995.