{"product_id":"animal-trials-book-edward-payson-evans-9781843913825","title":"Animal Trials","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn edited version of the text \u003ci\u003eCriminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals\u003c\/i\u003e--omitting much of the legal analysis and concentrating on an extraordinary range of trials\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo try an animal in a court of law for crimes and then sentence it to imprisonment or death seems barbaric, but for hundreds of years until the mid-19th century this practice was commonplace in Europe, and became the subject of a book called \u003ci\u003eCriminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals\u003c\/i\u003e. They include: an eight-month trial of a flock of weevils, for damaging vines--although the insects were found guilty, the sentence is unknown because the foot of the relevant parchment was eaten by insects. A pig tried found guilty of strangling and killing a baby in its cradle--the sentence was death and the pig was hanged. A group of rats who were summoned to court for eating the local barley, but failed to turn up--their defense counsel successfully argued that they had probably not received the summons and should be let off. There were even trials of inanimate objects, such as a Russian bell put on trial for abetting insurrection. It was found guilty and exiled to Siberia.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49539117351185,"sku":"GOR005965361","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1843913828.jpg?v=1750963081","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/animal-trials-book-edward-payson-evans-9781843913825","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}