Evasion was more difficult in the case of the larger animals, for the
magistrates could not wink at all the pretended suicides of pigs, sheep,
and cattle that were brought before them. Sometimes they had to convict,
and a few convictions had a very terrorising effect--whereas in the case
of animals killed by a dog, the marks of the dog's teeth could be seen,
and it was practically impossible to prove malice on the part of the
owner of the dog.
Another fertile source of disobedience to the law was furnished by a
decision of one of the judges that raised a great outcry among the more
fervent disciples of the old prophet. The judge held that it was lawful
to kill any animal in self-defence, and that such conduct was so natural
on the part of a man who found himself attacked, that the attacking
creature should be held to have died a natural death. The High
Vegetarians had indeed good reason to be alarmed, for hardly had this
decision become generally known before a number of animals, hitherto
harmless, took to attacking their owners with such ferocity, that it
became necessary to put them to a natural death. Again, it was quite
common at that time to see the carcase of a calf, lamb, or kid exposed
for sale with a label from the inspector certifying that it had been
killed in self-defence.
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