Property classes usually begin with two foundational cases about animals. First, Pierson v. Post (New York, 1805) involved a dispute over a fox hunt. Second, Keeble v. Hickeringill (Queen's Bench, 1707) involved a dispute over a duck hunt. Both cases had a common thread. On the one side was a traditional hunter, who engaged in the hunt with all the formalities. Post pursued the fox with hounds, while Keeble built an elaborate trap known a duck decoy. On the other side, Pierson intercepted the fox at the last minute, and Hickeringill shot-off a loud gun to scare away the ducks. In both cases, hunters were frustrated by–to put it loosely–jerks who did not abide by the informal hunting code of ethics. Who prevailed? In Pierson, the Court ruled for the jerk, because he was the first person to physically capture the fox. But in Keeble, the Court found that the jerk interfered with the hunter's lawful employment.
An ongoing saga in England reflects something of a hybrid between Pierson and Keeble.
The Warwickshire Hunt club, which was founded in 1791, still holds elaborate fox hunts. Or something like that. Britain outlawed hunting of foxes using dogs in 2004. But hunters can still lay down artificial scents, which the hounds can track. However, critics of the hunt claim that dogs often wind up killing a fox.
