Dog Officer. Officer. Statute, Construction. In an action by a city in a county other than Suffolk against the county under the provisions of St. 1910, c. 629, for reimbursement of the amount of a bill for the services of a dog officer approved by the mayor and paid by the plaintiff, it appeared that the dog officer was appointed by the mayor on July 26, 1910. St. 1910, c. 629, which was the first statute authorizing such reimbursement, did not go into effect until July 15, 1910. R.L.c. 102, § 143, of which that statute is an amendment, provides that the mayor of each city shall appoint one or more dog officers "annually, within ten days after the first day of July." Held, that the requirement that the appointments shall be made within ten days after the first day of July is merely directory and not mandatory, and that St. 1910, c. 629 applies to payments made to dog officers who were appointed in the year 1910 after it went into effect.
In an action by a city of more than twenty-five thousand inhabitants in a county other than Suffolk against the county under St. 1910, c. 629, amending R.L.c. 102, § 143, as previously amended, for reimbursement of the amount of a bill for the services of a dog officer approved by the mayor and paid by the plaintiff, it appeared that the regular police officers of the plaintiff received as wages $2.25 a day during their first year of service, $2.50 a day during their second year of service, $2.75 a day during their third year of service, and $3 a day after four years of service, that the person paid as dog officer previously had served as a dog officer of the plaintiff for more than four years, and that his bill was approved for compensation at the rate of $3 a day. Held, that, under the provision of the statute that in cities of twenty-five thousand inhabitants, or more, dog officers "shall be paid the same wages per diem during the term of their employment which the regular police officers of such cities receive," the bill of the dog officer properly was approved at the rate of $3 a day for the period of his actual service as dog officer.
BRALEY, J.
The St. of 1910, c. 629, having been approved June 15, 1910, did not take effect until thirty days thereafter. R.L.c. 8, § 1. But, the requirement that appointments under it must be made within ten days from July 1 of each year being directory, the action of the mayor on July 26, 1910, appointing Leahy as a constable to kill or cause to be killed unlicensed dogs was valid. If the statute were mandatory, as the defendant contends, no appointments for the current year would have been possible, and this result plainly was not intended by the Legislature. Whitney v. Whitney, 14 Mass. 88, 92, 93.
The defendant is required by the express provisions of the statute to reimburse the plaintiff for the amount paid Leahy during the period of eighteen days which he actually spent, but the compensation allowed cannot exceed the rate of daily wages received while in the performance of his ordinary duties as a police officer of the city. O'Neill v. County of Worcester, 210 Mass. 374. By reason of his rank as a regular officer he was entitled to the rate approved by the proper municipal officials, and the trial court properly charged the defendant with repayment of the disbursement.
Judgment affirmed.