There was once a form of torture that involved a goat licking salt of your feet. No, this isn’t a joke, and even though it sounds quite ridiculous, and hardly as terrifying as something like this, it was an excruciatingly painful form of punishment. You are probably sitting there wondering just how something like this could be considered as punishment? Well, read on and be surprised and disgusted all at the same time.
To have a goat licking salt of your feet as a form of torture hardly sounds like it would be that great an ordeal. To be honest, at first thought I can imagine that it would be really rather ticklish. After all, the feet are incredibly sensitive, and we all know just how easy it is to tickle the feet. And this was actually part of the torture process.
Right now, this is sounding more like an annoyance for most or ecstasy for someone with a foot fetish, but this goat licking salt torture is called torture for a reason. As you can imagine, it would start off being very ticklish, and a little annoying. However, just like with an itch, that good feeling soon makes way for pain.
This form of unusual torture with goats and feet dates back to medieval Europe. The torturer would take the intended victim and soak their feet in salt or sugar water and get a goat to lick the feet. The joy of tickling that it begins with turns into pain from the constant licking with the course tongue. But instead of calling the goat off at this point, it is encouraged to continue licking the victims feet. The pain only grows in intensity as the feet begin to blister and become raw. Eventually, the flesh of the victim begins to wear away, all from the tongue of a goat.
SOURCES
- Torture: European Instruments of Torture and Capital Punishment from the Middle Ages to Present
- The A-Z of Punishment and Torture