In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child A sow was sentenced to be ‘mangled and maimed in the head and forlegs, and then to be hanged, for having torn the face and arms of a child and thus caused its death…As if to make the travesty of justice complete, the sow was dressed in man’s clothes and executed on the public square near the city hall at the expense to the state of ten sous and ten deniers, besides a pair of gloves to the hangman.’ (from E.P. Evans: The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals). It seems odd that the pig was afforded an elaborate trial and it also had the same rights under the law as human defendants: it was entitled to legal representation, the jailors charged it the same board as its human cellmates and witnesses were called to give evidence. The pig was executed because after the first ‘murder’, it was likely to do it again.
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 22:47:01 +0000
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