Best Friend

Outside the Johnson County Courthouse in Warrensburg, Missouri, stands a statue dedicated to a Foxhound named Old Drum - commemorating a famous trial held there in 1870. Old Drum was shot and killed when he wandered onto the neighboring farm. His owner’s only recourse was to sue the neighbor.

A young attorney – George Vest, who later became a United States Senator – was retained by the owner. Senator Vest’s closing argument at the trial was just 400 words, eloquently in support of the value of a dog and included this thought:

“The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog. He is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens."

Shortly after he spoke, the jury found for his client and awarded him the maximum allowable damages of $50 – which was a lot of money back then. In addition, Vest’s speech established the phrase “man’s best friend is his dog.”