The Chiapas police in Mexico recently arrested a “donkey” for assaulting and battering two men near a ranch. The donkey was immediately locked up in a local jail which normally holds people for public drunkenness and other disturbances. Asked when the animal would be released, the police said that the donkey would remain behind bars until the owner paid the injured men’s medical expense.

In the book of Exodus 21:28-29, we read, “If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its flesh may not be eaten. In such a case, however, the owner will not be held liable. But the oxe  has the habit of goring, and the owner has been informed but failed to keep it under control. If the ox then kills a man, it must be stoned and the owner must be stoned to death as well.” So in this case, does the owner of the donkey have to pay the men’s medical bills to claim his donkey back if the donkey was the first time attacker?