N.J.S.A. 4:20-22 — Damages by animals breaking through lawful fences

4:20-22. Damages by animals breaking through lawful fences When horses, cattle or sheep shall get over, creep through or break down any fence declared lawful by this chapter, the owner of the animals shall pay to the person injured all damages occasioned thereby, to be appraised and certified in writing by two substantial and indifferent men of the neighborhood mutually chosen by the parties, which men, unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties, shall be owners of a class of property similar to that damaged. If the owner of the animals shall neglect or refuse to choose one of the appraisers then the injured party may choose both such appraisers himself. When the appraisers cannot agree upon the damages they may choose a freeholder of the neighborhood to join them, whereupon the appraisement by any two of them, made and certified in writing, shall be binding and conclusive upon the parties.

This is the verbatim text of N.J.S.A. 4:20-22, retrieved from the New Jersey Legislature's public statute corpus. Statutes are amended periodically — for the most current version, check the external source link above. Kyzer is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.