Curious Case of Jacques Ferron

Reading:   Exodus 22

This post is rated PG-13 for icky subject matter...

EXODUS 22:19

19 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death. 

Right then, I chose this verse because it reminded me of trial I once heard about where a man was caught doing unmentionables with a donkey and was subsequently put on trial for the act.  It's an interesting case because the donkey was put on trial as well.  I searched the all-inclusive Internet and found the story right quick, along with some other gems of note...

Thank you Rob Godfrey, The Burgundy Blog (posted on 4/6/2011):

In 1750, in France, Jacques Ferron was convicted of having sex with a donkey. Under Medieval law both Jacques and the donkey would have been sentenced to death. A parish priest petitioned for the court to show mercy, but unfortunately for Ferron the priest would only vouch for the good character of the animal. The donkey was spared and Ferron was burnt at the stake. 

In 1642 in America a young man called Thomas Granger raped a horse, a cow, two goats, two calves, five sheep and a turkey (after all that you’d think he would want to eat the turkey instead of shagging it). All of these animals were put on trial and later executed. 

In 1606 in Chartres (France, again) Guillaume Guyart sodomised a dog. After capture Guyart escaped custody and left the dog to face trial alone, which it did and was duly convicted of sexual impropriety. As punishment the dog was burnt alive. 

There’s a fascinating radio documentary about all this. It first aired on BBC Radio 4 in March, and has since resurfaced on the BBC World Service (which means that it will still be available to listen to). If interested you can find it here…Animals on Trial.

I listened to the BBC broadcast (25-min) and found it entertaining enough to include the link - a very worthwhile listen!  There was a case spoken of in the broadcast about rats on trial (a screenwriters dream come true)...I may just add the story to my future novel queue. 

Don't think I want to discuss the topic of verse 19 much more because it simply doesn't need overplay in the brain; however, it is important to recognize that the verse says nothing about destroying the offended animal.  So, with that, I'm out!

~Kipling