At one point, Martin brought a court case against a man who had abused his donkey to court. Martin brought the donkey with him to court so that people could see its injuries! Martin was keen to see that the law he'd brought in was enforced properly, & it's clear that he took a very hands-on approach to that.

It's interesting seeing the approach Martin took. He tried to prevent cruelty to horses first, perhaps because the mistreatment of horses was a hot topic at the time & there had been several debates on horse husbandry & ills against bull-baiting had failed. When that failed, he laid the groundwork for his next attempt by bringing a petition from local residents. It shows the importance of campaigning & sustained effort.

I'm not sure when Martin first moved his bill to outlaw the Cruel Treatment of Cattle, but it followed an unsuccessful attempt to bring in a bill outlawing the ill-treatment of horses in 1821. The second reading of the Cattle Bill was in May 1822 though, and it passed on third reading in June 1822.

@DominikDammer - I would, but the ones that look most relevant to my research/interests are currently not accepting new sign-ups. I'll give this one a little more time to settle & sort itself out.

@kathrinecuccuru I was intending to submit a paper there recently, but was persuaded to send it somewhere else instead. I sort of regret it now.

@kathrinecuccuru brilliant, thank you!