Fined after collie is killed in accident

A bus company was ordered to pay £40 damages to a Gargunnock farmer after one of its vehicles ran over his collie dog.

Mr Alexander Mcfarlane, Fleuchams Farm, was compensated at Stirling Sheriff Court for the “serious inconvenience and trouble” which the loss of the dog had caused him.

He had raised an action against bus operators W Alexander and Sons Ltd, Goosecroft, Stirling.

The accident occurred on the Gargunnock-stirling road, opposite Mr Mcfarlane’s farm steading, on April 12, 1948, reported the Observer in May 1949.

The dog was on the roadway in a crouching position with its back to the approaching bus and watching a cow in a burn.

Sheriff Murray, presiding, decided the accident occurred because the driver failed to take reasonable steps to avoid the animal.

It was stated the driver had an uninterrupted view of the dog for about 100 yards and ample room to avoid it.

Sheriff Murray was told the dog was valued at about £30 and was not easily be replaced.

Mr Mcfarlane had suffered “substantial inconvenience, including extra labour for herding cattle and in training another dog”.

The driver of the bus did sound its horn but only once as a routine warning and at a considerable distance from the farm.

`It was not sounded as a warning to the dog,’ said the Observer’s court report.

`The evidence was clear that the dog was obviously concentrating its whole attention on the task on which it was working, that of watching the cow in the burn, and in his Lordship’s opinion the driver should have seen this and taken greater care in consequence.’