a compassionate Easter

Last Easter, Stephanie Feldstein, lead blogger for Change.org's Animals Cause and a gifted and prolific one at that, asked if I'd be interested in contributing a few reflections as a Christian and an animal advocate on some Easter traditions and their implications for animals, along the same lines as the post we've shared from Lauren Merritt on common Easter pets.  I was very grateful to be able to share a few thoughts on the holiday and animal compassion from a faithful perspective.

As believers who recognize the true origin and meaning of Easter, is it possible we can amend some of our traditions to better reflect the new life Christ made possible for all creation by His death and resurrection?  Here's part of what I wrote for Stephanie's post "Celebrate Easter for the Animals":

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Temple Grandin: autism, animals and empathy

The following is a post which I also shared on my other blog, with those who (a journal of empathy) ...

At the recommendation of my mom and aunt this past Thanksgiving, I finally made time to watch last year's biographical film about Temple Grandin, and am glad I did. 

Temple was diagnosed with autism as a child in 1950, but through the patient and faithful efforts of her mother and other teachers she grew to be remarkably high functioning.  She went on to earn a master's and doctoral degree in animal science, and become a renowned consultant, author and professor in farmed animal behavior and more humane livestock handling, in addition to being a respected resource and advocate on behalf of autism.

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eat and be eaten

The following essay was graciously made available by Jonathan Samuelson, a talented writer and recent student of Karen Swallow Prior's at Liberty University (see her posts "Animals and Evangelicals" and "Peeking at Animal Cruelty").  It's a bit more challenging read, but a great change of pace, and an excellent perspective on the connection which needs to be made between the issues of abortion and creation care, including animals: 

When environmentalists describe the ravages and trespasses of mankind against nature, they sometimes use the language of rape. Rape is a stark and powerful image, and thus comes in handy to anyone seeking compelling and arresting language with which to ground an appeal to conscience. But I have often thought that a better metaphor than rape is that of abortion. For by violating nature we destroy what is within us, not merely what is without.

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a response to no kill

As mentioned in the last post, I thought it would be important to highlight some responses and reservations to the No Kill movement from others in the shelter community, to offer some perspective from both sides of the often tense discussion.

The first response I came across after reading Winograd's book was a November, 2007 post by Wayne Pacelle, President of the Humane Society of the United States, "Setting Aside Semantics: Not Killing Pets Must Be Our Goal".  He writes:

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the no kill movement

The No Kill Declaration's guiding principles, a joint project of the No Kill Advocacy Center and Alley Cat Allies, call for the following: "Shelters and humane groups (to) end the killing of healthy and treatable animals, including feral cats," and "Every animal in a shelter (should) receiv(e) individual consideration, regardless of how many animals a shelter takes in, or whether such animals are healthy, underaged, elderly, sick, injured, traumatized, or feral."

Nathan Winograd is one of the leading, and certainly most vocal, leaders of the No Kill movement, and currently serves as director of the No Kill Advocacy Center mentioned above.  I read a good portion of his influential book Redemption: The Myth of Pet Overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America (Almaden 2007), after my friend Lynda Stein graciously sent me a copy.  Following some illuminating historical perspective on the origins of the first U.S. humane society, Winograd makes a relentless and compelling case for how modern humane societies and shelters, national and local, have abandoned their core concern for preserving all of the animal lives under their protection:

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the worst put-down

As I've probably alluded to once or twice before, not one sparrow's basic conviction is that each and every animal life has value to God, which means that it should be valued and preserved by us as well (see motivation).  This belief seems especially clear to many of us when it comes to the companion animals, or pets, we care deeply about.

Not that we should be limited to caring about the animals in our homes (see our faq and two posts ago).  But the deep love and concern we have for our own dogs, cats and other animals (7 of 10 American homes have at least one pet, according to Pet Connection) often leads us to care very much about the fate and wellbeing of similar breeds, species or pets on the whole.  We want to know that every greyhound, cat or even reptile is loved and cared for just as much as our own.

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notes and news, 02/02/09

Updated on February 3, 2009 by Ben DeVries

coming attractions ...

We're feauturing a series on companion animal sheltering and rescue this week on the blog, including discussion of the no-kill movement and one of its leading voices, Nathan Winograd; some excellent perspective by a good friend and committed Christian who works in shelter administration, MeLissa Webber; and a happy-tear-brushing post by Tracy Simmons on a pug resuce parade.

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what to make of animal suffering

The question of oversensitivity to animal suffering came up in the previous post, and I thought I might pass along some additional thoughts on that subject by the same author of the story about the boy slugging baby turtles with a bat. 

Jeffrey Sobosan goes on to write, "Shove a lit cigarette against a cat's nose, step on a dog's foot, yank out the tail feathers of a parakeet, or bludgeon baby turtles with a baseball bat, and you will note a behavior remarkably similar to your own in similar situations."  Just previous he points out that researchers and veterinarians claim that pets such as cats and dogs feel both phsyical and emotional pain, including melancholy, loneliness and frustrations in various situations.

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a religious proclamation for animal compassion, pt. 1

A couple of weeks after not one sparrow launched I heard from Kris Haley and Michelle Buckalew of Best Friends Animals & Religion who gracioulsy wanted to highlight not one sparrow in an online news story.  In the process I was reminded of a proclamation which Best Friends was sponsoring to engage religious communities and people of faith with a concern for animals, co-authored by a friend Sue Grisham of EpiscoVeg and the Episcopal Network for Animal Welfare. 

Though evangelicals and other conservative Christians are often reluctant to sponsor or endorse inter-faith efforts, A Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion (PDF) is a wonderfully composed document which is very much compatible with the mission and values of not one sparrow (see our faq).  It reads:

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animals and the love of God

The other day I came across the article "Animals and the Love of God" by William Greenway of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the Christian Vegetarian Association.  What struck me about the article was that it was posted on the Christian online directory Surf-in-the-Spirit (note: the site may be down, but the current article link points to Religion-Online.org).  It's noteworthy, and commendably so, whenever any serious attention to animal welfare shows up in the evangelical community, let alone its more conservative end.  Here's just one challenging thought from Greenway's article, which I strongly recommend reading if you get the chance:

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