Legal Definitions - damage feasant

Damage feasant is a historical legal concept that describes a situation where a person's land is harmed by another person's animals while those animals are trespassing on the property. In such cases, the owner of the damaged property had the right to seize and hold the trespassing animals until the animals' owner paid compensation for the damage caused. However, the landowner who seized the animals was also legally obligated to care for them, providing food and shelter, and was prohibited from selling or harming them.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of damage feasant:

• Imagine a homeowner who has spent months cultivating a beautiful vegetable garden. One morning, they discover that a neighbor's escaped goats have broken through a fence, trampled the garden beds, and eaten many of the young plants. Under the historical principle of damage feasant, the homeowner would have been entitled to capture and hold the goats until the neighbor compensated them for the destruction of their garden.

• Consider a farmer who relies on an irrigation system to water their crops. If a herd of cattle from an adjacent ranch were to break through a boundary fence, trespass onto the farmer's land, and damage the irrigation pipes by stepping on them or knocking them over, this would be an instance of damage feasant. The farmer could historically impound the cattle until the rancher paid for the repairs to the irrigation system.

• Picture a property owner who has just installed a new, expensive landscaping feature, such as a rock garden with delicate plants. If a flock of geese from a nearby pond were to repeatedly wander onto their property, uprooting the new plants and scattering the decorative rocks, this would also fall under the concept of damage feasant. The property owner would have had the right to detain the geese until their owner compensated for the damage to the landscaping.