Why would humans go to such great lengths to create spaces specifically for animal trials? France in particular had a difficult time with surly farmers refusing to adequately pin up their pigs. It is thought that animal trials were perhaps a way of circumventing meaningless citations to farmers and going the more straightforward route of grisly threat. It was a clear message to farmers: take proper care of your livestock, or they will end up dead much sooner than you had anticipated. The complexities of animal trials are still not fully understood but their facts and myths are greatly debated.
It is also known that during this era, there was a strong belief in hierarchical power. God was at the top, humans second, and everything beneath. The only way to restore the power to man was to make animal punishment a formal event. There are many academically inclined answers as to the “why” of animal trials, but farmer intimidation and hierarchical formalities could have been solved with an easier solution. If the people of the time did not genuinely believe animals were intellectually capable of fulfilling the same moral duties humans operate under, execution without trial would have been the best route. Obviously, citizens of the era believed that animals operated under the same moral agency as humans.
As historian Edward P. Evans put it in 1906, animal trials were “a childish disposition to punish irrational creatures”. Perhaps it is easy for us to look back at these antiquated antics and see only misguided and ignorant village people. People were overly concerned with hierarchy or potential sadists looking to wield their legal powers in order to gain sickly satisfaction. The pre-industrial age required humans to work closely with livestock they domesticated themselves. They did not have the same modern-day detachment from animals as we do. They spent extended amounts of time taking care of and training their animals. Communities would have had direct interaction with an array of animals who provided necessary work to farmers or nourishment for all.
Rather than label animal trials an imbecilic practice, humans should reflect on the relationships our pre-industrialized ancestors had with their livestock companions. As we become increasingly more removed from the natural world and cement ourselves into a technology-dependent world, we can begin to lose sight of the characteristics animals possess that make them so worth cherishing. Anthropomorphism is not necessary for us to feel more connected to the species we share our planet with, nor are overly complicated judicial processes. Simply appreciating animals for the wild and incredible beings they are is all that is required.