regardless of species.
Seven cows, fifty chickens and a dog named “Cobber” have been served with a trespass notice in the outback town of Humpty Doo. The owner of the animals was also included in the notice.
The trespass notice warns Mr Allan, the cows, the dog and “50 fowls” to stay off Ms Miller’s land – or risk a $2000 fine.
It closes by saying: “Notice was served by handing the original to seven cattle, one dog, 50 fowls.”
Mr Allan, 58, who worked for Parks and Wildlife before retiring, said: “I might get the trespass notice laminated and framed. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
He said he would be sending a copy to his mum in Melbourne and son in Wagga “for a laugh”.
I wonder how the complainant intends enforce the fine against the chickens if they do trespass over the fence line again? I’m presuming the chickens have no assets.
It reminds me of crazy medieval trials against animals (ranging from proceedings against domestic animals to insects). According to Wikipedia, the first recorded criminal trial against an animal resulted in the execution of a pig in Fontenay-aux-Roses in 1266. Perhaps the French have a penchant for involving animals in legal trials which continues on to this present day – a dog named Scooby has recently appeared as a witness in a French murder trial.
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And don’t forget Chico the monkey sentenced to death for assaulting the police!
http://skepticlawyer.com.au/2008/03/not-just-monkey-business/
Mind you, there was a fair chance a higher primate could understand a legal direction if you bothered to teach it sign language… but chooks and cows??? Is this like serving an order to a toddler who keeps crawling into your front yard?
They ASBO’d a herd of pigs in the UK. (ASBO= antisocial behaviour order) Though in this case I think they had the sense to actually give the notice to the farmer rather than the pigs themselves.
Perhaps the complainant could could just turn a chicken or two into soup, and I’m sure their owner would learn to fence them in a bit better. Given that cows a worth a fair bit, they might try cow-napping them too.
I wonder if serving the animals themselves with the notice is valid? I suspect not. As Dave notes, it’s all about sentience – one can’t expect a chicken to have a concept of boundaries or service of a trespass notice. Well, I don’t think chickens have a sense of much really.
Pigs seem to be generally problematic – a lot of the medieval trials seem to have involved pigs committed for murder or assault.
Conrad – poor old chickens – if I were counsel for them, I would argue that it was inappropriate to impose criminal sanctions (death sentence) for a civil misdemeanor. Although I am partial to a good chicken soup – nothing like it when you’re sick.
The cow napping reminds me of old Irish sagas, which seemed to have involved a disproportionate amount of cow napping. Obviously cows were a very valuable asset: the word “chattel” in law derives from “cattle”.
Perhaps you could garnishee the eggs and milk?
Chickens aren’t that dumb, when I was a kid ours would be in the front yard to meet my sisters when they got home from school.
Hmm, you live and you learn – chickens that know when their owners are coming home…
I like the idea of garnisheeing the eggs and milk.
As I recall there’s some huge precedent in common law viz trespassing animals. I forget it now.
Yeah Colin Firth was in a movie about it when he was much younger. The pig had it coming. An evil pig if ever there was one.
Disgusting. That Scooby is nothing more than a professional witness. His testimony always goes to the lawyer who pays the most.
Unfortunately his expertise is devastating.
Yes, Wikipedia says that movie is called The Hour of the Pig, although in real life, apparently the pig had no defence counsel.
Interestingly, the Scooby case involved the question of whether an apparent suicide was actually murder. The dead man’s dog (Scooby) barked very loudly and aggressively at the suspect in a line up or something like that.
But can one actually say this proves anything? When I was younger, dogs never liked me because I was scared of them. Then my parents got a dog, so I got comfortable with dogs more generally and got to love them, and there were no more negative reactions.
Cats, being ornery and contrasuggestible critters, love me even though I’m severely allergic to them and try to avoid them as a consequence.
Every dog has his day…In court?
Cats, being ornery and contrasuggestible critters, love me even though I’m severely allergic to them and try to avoid them as a consequence.
Yeah they always do that. If you’re allergic they come over and spread hair all over the place. Bastards!
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