132. Kindness to animals
132. KINDNESS TO ANIMALS
Is kindness to animals in the Bible?
(In the Old Testament sacrifices whose elaborate rules God instituted,) blood was forbidden . . . in order to avoid cruelty, that they might abhor the shedding of human blood. . . . For the same reason they were forbidden to eat animals that had been suffocated or strangled . . . because this form of death is very painful to the victim, and the Lord wished to withdraw them from cruelty even in regard to irrational animals, so as to be less inclined to be cruel to other men, through being used to being kind to beasts. . . .
There seems to be no reason in what is said in Exodus 23:19: Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of its dam (mother). . . . (But) although the kid that is slain has no perception of the manner in which its flesh is cooked, yet it would seem to savor of heartlessness if the dam’s milk, which was intended for the nourishment of her offspring, were served up on the same dish (I-II,102,6).
One of the pieces of evidence that the Bible is divine revelation is its transcendence of human culture and conventions. Merely human books always reflect the ideas of their culture, or of the individuals who write them; a divinely inspired book transcends that. Thus the Bible reflects a very “progressive” view of women and children, and of mercy over justice; it does not share the otherwise universal belief that there must be many gods, that human kings are beyond criticism, that ordinary people are unholy, etc. And it also transcends our ancestors’ universal callousness toward animals, as being nothing but mere meat, or useful beasts of burden. Scripture does teach kindness to animals. For God put animals into our world not just to serve us physically, but also spiritually: to teach us lessons like compassion and kindness. Dogs and cats are more compassionate to us than we are to them.
St. Thomas was a keen observer of the material world, especially of animals. (Remember his argument from his observation of animals to prove that human happiness does not consist in the goods of the body: point #60.) He sees symbolic significance, of a moral and religious kind, in specific empirical features of many animals. Just to take flying creatures alone, he mentions eagles, griffons, ospreys, kites, vultures, ravens, ostriches, owls, gulls, hawks, screech-owls, cormorants, ibises, swans, bitterns, coots, herons, falcons, plovers, hoopoes, and bats! (I-II,102,6)
. . . [M]an’s affection . . . is moved also in regard to other animals; for since the passion of pity is caused by the afflictions of others, and since it happens that even irrational animals are sensible to pain, it is possible for the affection of pity to arise in a man with regard to the sufferings of animals. Now it is evident that if a man practice a pitiful affection for animals, he is all the more disposed to take pity on his fellow men; wherefore it is written (Prov 12:10): The just regardeth the lives of his beasts, but the bowels of the wicked are cruel. Consequently the Lord, in order to inculcate pity to the Jewish people who (like all mankind!) were prone to cruelty, wished them to practice pity even with regard to dumb animals, and forbade them to do certain things savoring of cruelty to animals. Hence He prohibited them to boil a kid in the milk of its dam; and to muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn; and to slay the dam with her young (I-II, I02,6).
God wants us to have kindness, pity, and even a kind of friendship with animals for two reasons: (1) for them and (2) for us. (1) He made them, so He has a proper love for them, and we should too. (2) Above all, He made us to be kind, loving, and friendly to each other and to Him. We are His little children, and animals train us, as toy horses train future cowboys and toy swords train future soldiers.
We can’t love God too much, and we can’t love sin too little. Everything else, we can love either too much, by idolizing it, or too little, by not appreciating it. In the past, we probably loved and appreciated animals too little. Today, some people love them too much—more than they love other people sometimes, because they give us less trouble!