Scott (D) contracted with Gorris (P) to transport sheep. A statute (The Contagious Disease Animals Act) had been passed that required shippers to place animals in pens and place their feet in footholds during shipping for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease. D did not follow the statute. The sheep were lost overboard during the trip. P sued to recover damages based on D's negligence to comply by the statute to tie down the animal’s feet. D claimed that the statute prescribes its own penalty for failing to abide by the statute and that the accident that P complains of does not fit what the statute was designed to prevent.

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