Hello everyone and welcome back to the rebuttal podcast where we break down case law, calamity,

and of course chaos in the legal field. I am once again your host, Reb Maisel and today's episode

is going to be a light and funny and interesting one all about animals on trial, right?

Specifically, animals that may or may not have been put in witness protection,

parrot protection, may I, may I say properly, okay? We are not going to get into the bad news

that's happening current event-wise because I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted and I'd like to giggle for once in my fucking life.

So let's go. Have you ever heard the phrase, a dog is a man's best friend? It may seem like a

saying as old as time, but the famous Missouri Supreme Court case of Burden v. Hornsby of 1870 is

considered one potential origin for that phrase.

In September of 1870, the Johnson County courtroom was the setting for the most celebrated dog case in the world.

When Leonidas Hornsby shot his neighbor and brother-in-law Charles Burden's best hunting dog old drum.

Burden first threatened to kill Hornsby, but instead sued for $100.

Hornsby had been employing his nephew to guard his flock of sheep, but denied giving any

instruction for his nephew to shoot old drum. After two trials, the jury found

horns be guilty of ordering his nephew to kill Old Drum and awarded Burden $25, but that judgment later

was reversed. At the third trial, Burden's lawyer, George Graham Vest, delivered an emotionally

wrenching closing argument titled

Eulogy for a dog. Let's hear it. Quote, the best friend a man has in this world may turn

against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may

prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness

and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose.

It flies away from him, perhaps, when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a

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