Qui cum iumento et pecore coierit, morte moriatur: pecus quoque occidite (Lev 20, 15). Il reato di bestialità e la pena di morte per gli animali nella riflessione giuridica di età moderna

With reference to the biblical verse qui cum iumento et pecore coierit, morte moriatur: pecus quoque occidite (Lev 20,15), almost all the doctores of modern age thought that, when happened crime of bestiality, the animal should be sentenced to death. Different interpretations were proposed: mentioning a passage from Augustine, most claimed that, however unreasonable, the beast should be suppressed so that the memory of the fact would be lost and no one would be led to repeat it; according to others, that death was instead instrumental to increase the horror, in view of the general prevention of the crimes; others believed that the animals became imputable because of the enormity of the crime, others that animals were imputable because they had sufficient rationality and will, still others argued that because of the sexual act against nature the animal was unclean or feared there could be monstrous births.