“What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great
loneliness of spirit,
for whatever happens to the beasts
Also happens to man.
All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth
befalls the children of the earth.”
~~~Chief Seattle, Suqwamish
As the poet wrote, “…all creatures great and small, the Lord God made them all…”Well folks, let’s face it, too many people torment, torture, abuse and misuse the least of God’s creatures. We all know it and many of us are horrified and sickened by it.
A prime example, recently well publicized, is Michael Vick and his dog-fighting “sport”.
There is more, and sadly worse brutality, done to animals, but I will not go into the sickening details of what “civilized man” is capable of. The inhumanity of “humankind“.
What this says about our nation as a people is frightening and humiliating. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated…I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by [people] from the cruelty of [human kind]”
Thankfully there are a lot of good folks out there who run shelters and rescue organizations that try to undo at least some of the horror and care for these least of God’s precious ones. In the words of St. Francis of Assisi, “Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission—to be of service to them wherever they require it.”
One of the best organizations I know of does some of the most fantastic work in saving and loving all sorts of God’s little beauties…from the greatly maligned Pit Bull Terriers to abused and feral cats, to horses, burros, bunnies, and all sorts of birds, and even reptiles…these folks are there to care for them and give them the love they have never known before. They are the angels of salvation for all the four-legged orphans of cruelty.
These animals come from everywhere. Confined and careworn from puppy mills, neglected and emaciated from cat hoarders, even wounded and terrified from war zones in the Middle East. There are “regular” pets that are cared for, rehabilitated if necessary, and sent along to new homes. There are even “wild” animals that are cared for and then appropriately set free. Then there are the “un-adoptables”, the blind and maimed, the crippled, the deaf, the ones with special needs. Young and old, all are loved and cared for.
They are given the very best of veterinary care. Their bodies and their spirits are healed.
Then they are either given permanent loving homes at this blessed sanctuary or eventually are adopted by some very special people who are carefully screened. None are turned away, none are ever, ever…no never…”put down”. They even maintain a special animal cemetery called Angel’s Rest.
Their caring and compassion extends to us as well, the “parents”, caretakers and guardians of these special little angels in our lives. They have a special section on their website for us to post memorials to our friends who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge. These memorials may be short or long and are kept on the site memorial archives in perpetuity.
The people of Best Friends Animal Society are the modern day patron saints of the animals. A quote from their own website says much…“On any given day, there are about 2,000 dogs, cats and other animals who have come to the sanctuary for special care from shelters and rescue groups all across the country. Once they're here, we make sure nothing bad will ever happen to them again. Many of them are soon ready to go to good new homes with loving families. Others find lifetime care here at the nation's largest sanctuary. For them, Best Friends is a unique home and haven. There's just nothing else like it anywhere.”
We need to remember Jesus’ own words, as all the people of Best Friends certainly have, and live them every day as these wonderful people do. There is some debate as to whether
animals have souls…perhaps our Father has given them special animal souls, only He knows. But He has through Jesus’ words directed us in how to behave towards all living things, human and animal alike, with kindness, compassion, and caring.
“Whatever you do unto the least of these, you do it unto me.”~~Matthew 25:40
