The recent flourishing interest in true crime is a thing. True crime podcasts investigate murders, scandals and a variety of other criminal events. Topranked podcasts in this genre include “20/20,” “Crime Junkie,” “Dateline NBC,” and “My Favorite Murder.”
According to a recent Pew Research Center study, one third of all U.S. adults, who have listened to a podcast in the past year, say they regularly listen to podcasts about true crime.
The reasons we are so devoted to the genre are unclear. Are we trying to determine how to find a way to spend the rest of our life with that special someone who’s not our spouse? Might we be fed up with a snarky business partner that would be better off dead? Are we eager to gain an inheritance while we’re still young enough to enjoy it? There are oh, so many possible reasons.
But I digress. This fascinating volume is the result of the revision and expansion of two essays which appeared in the “Atlantic Monthly” in August and September,1884: “Bugs and Beasts Before the Law” and “Modern and Mediaeval Punishment.”
Here are assembled court cases in which animals – chickens, rats, field mice, bees, gnats and (in 34 recorded instances) pigs – have been named as defendants, brought to court and subjected to legal proceedings. Needless to say, the animals and insects did not testify on their own behalf, but counsel was appointed for them. Lawyers among us would appreciate some of the procedural dilemmas of such cases: How do you make “service of process” on a swarm of locusts? Is “service by publication” sufficient, as you cannot serve “in hand” or by “last and usual” place of abode. You could criminally or civilly “arrest” a hog, but how many rats did you have to catch to get jurisdiction over the pack?
In some instances, capital punishments were inflicted by secular tribunals upon pigs, cows, horses and other domestic animals as a penalty for homicide. Animals which were in the service of man could be arrested, tried, convicted and executed like any other members of the owners’ household. In those cases, the sheriff had already taken them in charge and consigned them to the custody of the jailer.
In other cases, insects and rodents, which were not subject to human control and could not be seized and imprisoned by civil authorities, required the intervention of the church and the exercise of its supernatural functions … “for the purpose of compelling them to desist from their devastations and to retire from all places devoted to the production of human sustenance.” Here, the only feasible method of staying the ravages of these swarms of noxious creatures was to resort to metaphysical aid and to expel or exterminate them by sacred conjuring and cursing – exorcisms and sprinklings with holy water.
The non-rigorous thinker might deem this book insane. Nevertheless, there are notable strengths represented in this work: It involved comprehensive research. A wealth of historical records, legal documents and anecdotes illustrate the seriousness of animal trials and represents an impressive command of historical resources.
There is a blend of humor and scholarship. While the subject matter is undeniably strange, Mr. Evans treats it with scholarly rigor and a touch of wry humor.
There are philosophical reflections. It raises questions about justice, morality and the nature of humanity’s relationship with animals.
As far as cultural insight goes, the book reveals the deeply rooted anthropomorphic tendencies of even modern societies, toward our beast, insect and fowl companions. I mean, really, what exasperated pet owner hasn’t at one point wanted to bring charges and prosecute the family feline, Mittens, for refusing perfectly good dry food or insisting on being let out of the house and then back in 19 times in a row?
Don Minnick is a clinical psychologist and organizational consultant and the author of books linked to business and the arts. He has found a home in the creative and culture- rich Wimberley valley. He is a Board Member of Wimberley-Arts.org.
