Old Drum
Old Drum was a black and tan hound of undetermined heritage (some reports say that he was a foxhound) near Warrensburg Missouri, known as a fine hunter. He was not particular distinguished in life for any of his achievements, but Old Drum’s untimely demise was the source of a court action which led to the changing of laws regarding the treatment of animals. His death also led to the description of a dog being “man’s best friend” when that phrase was used by a lawyer representing his master after Old Drum had gone to his reward.
Old Drum was owned by Charles Burden in 1869 when the dog wandered onto the property of Leonidas Hornsby, a sheep farmer who happened to be Burden’s brother in law. Hornsby had warned Burden that if Old Drum, (or any dog) appeared on his property it would be shot. When Old Drum strayed onto the property Hornsby was true to his word. Burden hired an attorney, former Confederate Senator George Graham Vest (who would become a US Senator a few years later) and sued his brother in law for $50.
Vest gave a summation at the trial which included the line, “The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.” The rest of the summation was in the same vein. Vest won the case and Burden won his fifty dollars. Hornsby appealed, but he lost there too. Somewhat ironically, it had not been Hornsby who pulled the trigger the night Old Drum was killed, but a ward who was following Hornsby’s orders.
The case of Old Drum became a measuring stick regarding the willful killing of domestic animals on private property, and Missouri courts frequently cited it when called upon to litigate cases where property owners had killed or harmed animals belonging to another. While there was no immediate changes to Missouri law, the application of the law by the courts shifted to favor the safety of the animal when it presented no threat or did no harm.
Old Drum was memorialized by a statue which stands today in Warrensburg, on the Johnson County Court House lawn. Burden and Hornsby evidently had no further difficulties after the issue of Old Drum was resolved by the courts, though they both had incurred impoverishing legal expenses. Old Drum’s legacy also includes animal restraint laws, both in Missouri and in many other states and communities.