The Animal Trials

     Up until the 18th century, all across Europe there were criminal trials against animals. Animals were charges for these crimes just as a human would be. They were put before the church and the court and were put on trial. These criminal cases could be anything from property damage to murder and if convicted, the animal was usually executed. The crazy thing to me is that these animals were most of the time given lawyers.
     The animals who were most commonly put on trial were those such as pigs, bulls, and horses or rodents (rats and weasels). One famous story that came about during this era of animal trials was the story of three pigs who were accused for murder in France and those who were witnesses were also sentenced to death. The Friar of France at that time couldn't afford to lose all of those pigs. The Friar then had to beg the Duke to only kill the three who were in charge of the murder and not those who were witnesses and the Duke agreed.
     This to me is one of the craziest things I've ever heard that there was actually a time where people thought that these animals deserved to be put on trial and sentenced to death over things that were in their nature and are a part of who they are.