How It All Began.
God created the heavens, the earth, and the animal world first (Genesis 1:25). Then He created man and assigned us dominion over the animal world (Genesis 1:26). Nowhere in these verses does God mandate cruelty, neglect, exploitation, slaughter, torture, and extermination. Think about it — God created man in His own image, which means we were born of love and compassion. There is no evil or cruelty or malice or indifference in God; therefore, neither was there evil or cruelty or malice or indifference within us at that moment, because we were made in His image. So God’s Word implies that our dominion over the animals would follow God’s example of love and compassion.
God’s Intention.
Sadly, we perverted God’s intentions for the care of the animal world. Shame on us. God intended us to watch over the animal world with kindness and compassion, just as He watches over us. If we are to fulfill God’s word, then we would act with love and compassion toward all things, human and animal both, as He first intended. During the Creation, God did not instruct us to kill and eat animals or treat them for sport and exploitation. Genesis 1:29-31 reveals that God never intended animals to be our food source. In truth, He provided the original garden with all the food and water we needed (Genesis 2:8-9). All that we needed grew from the earth — herbs, seed, fruit, etc. (Genesis 1:29-31), and probably it never even occurred to us at that point to even look on animals as food. God says nothing about butchering the animals He had created. It was Man who distorted God’s intentions, causing the ultimate fall from grace that changed everything.
Our Failure.
Since our fall from grace, we have become a species that spoils everything we touch with rabid and greedy indifference for the suffering it brings. We have become the animal world’s biggest enemy, no longer its watchkeeper as God intended. Torturous farm agriculture, hideous and unspeakable live meat markets, shameful egotistical trophy hunting, useless and heartbreaking lab experiments, cruelty for sexual perversion, dog fighting, cock fighting, bull fighting, poaching, ambushing innocent dolphins and baby seals, rounding up sacred wild horses and shipping them off to Mexican butchers, slaughter for fur and vanity, puppy mills, hoarders, roadside zoos, using euthanasia for population control, careless commercial fishing practices, irresponsible and outdated pet sheltering policies, and the list goes on ad nauseum.
My Prayer.
My prayer every single day is that God will change our hearts and bring us back to the beginning. Yes, that’s a big ask. But I pray it anyway. I know God can, and I believe that He will. In the meantime, good people continue to advocate for the animal world and more benign, protective oversight; and slowly the pendulum is turning. Every single life saved is a victory and a sign of hope and prayers answered.
As I stated on the home page of my Milagro Senior Pet Refuge website — “Lord, bless these precious lives you’ve placed in our care, and please be especially loving to those who never do find help in this life.” ?
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God Bless and Happy Pet Parenting!
With love and good wishes,
jeannie. ?
About jeannie: I’ve been pro-actively involved in pet rescue all of my life. I founded Milagro Senior Pet Refuge© (Phoenix) in 1998, and BareFootPets (TM) in 2008. Animal welfare has always been and will always be my heart’s work. If my only legacy is that I save a handful of precious souls that would not survive otherwise, I’m good with that.