Catholic teaching on animals?

  • Thread starter Thread starter angell1
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
KrazyKat said:
I feel your grief. My cat Cameo died yesterday. There was nothing that I would not have done for her. It hurts so deeply.
Click to expand...
I am so sorry. I empathise. Thre are so many pros to keeping pets but loving them means grieving when they go.
 
KrazyKat said:
$25.00 a year for mental and emotional health is quite a bargain !

For years I donated time and money to help the poor. Responding to every bleeding heart request. Lo and behold, my financial world came crashing down big time and not one of these same organizations would help me out with even a loaf of bread to help with the hunger I suffered. My animals love me even when I am in need, unlike the people who turned a blind eye!
Click to expand...
👍
 
thistle said:
People are more important than animals. USD 25 per year would be put to far better use to stop a child dying from hunger or disease.
If you had problems then why didn’t you talk to your priest?
Click to expand...
Some animals are more important to some than many people. That is a fact.

I assume you have no hobbies, live on the bare necessities. Money spent on cars, buying anything but the basics can go to helping children too.
 
marymary1975 said:
There is a massive correlation between being kind to animals and being kind to humans. Most violent criminals before becoming violent with humans started with violence against animals. All psychopaths and serial killers started by killing animals. On the same token, most people who are highly compassionate to animals are exactly the same way towards hymans. Of course there are some people who have priorities skewed (if someone is a big animal activist and promotes abortion that is a problem) but for the most part there is a massive correlation between how you treat animals and humans. I think it was st Francis who said something along the lines if you don’t appreciate life in its smallest form you won’t be able to appreciate it in its biggest form.
Click to expand...
Well said.
 
simpleas said:
I think of it as balancing the two. Helping humans and animals.

The ccc says its ok to test on animals for human gain…Not something I agree with.
Click to expand...
I don’t either. C.S.Lewis wrote an essay on vivisection - interesting .
 
thistle said:
Sorry to hear you are ill. I will pray for you.

However, personally I will always put the life of a human before the life of an animal.

I have a pet dog that I love very much but if it jumped into a river and got into difficulty at the same time as I saw a child or adult in the river also in difficulty I would attempt to save the human at the expense of my dog. No matter how much we love our pets human life is more precious.

I will leave it at that now and drop out of the thread.
Click to expand...
I would try to save both.
 
KrazyKat said:
$25.00 a year for mental and emotional health is quite a bargain !

For years I donated time and money to help the poor. Responding to every bleeding heart request. Lo and behold, my financial world came crashing down big time and not one of these same organizations would help me out with even a loaf of bread to help with the hunger I suffered. My animals love me even when I am in need, unlike the people who turned a blind eye!
Click to expand...
I know about just this sort of thing. Been there and through it. My best help came from people who had as little or less than me. If all they had was a piece of bread they gave it to me. I know people don’t like to believe it but most of these organizations are not real great in how they distribute the monies they receive. At best most organization take up 90% for themselves, with about 10% or less actually getting to the people it is intended for.
 
Modern_Revert said:
Take care of your dog. He depends on you to do what’s best for him, especially if he needs medical care. My pets are part of my family and no theology comes into play when I consider their care.
Click to expand...
Our furry friends are family too. If any theology does come into play it is in memory of St. Francis. He loved animals and respected them deeply as part of God’s creation.

We have two cats (a third out-door stray we feed) and 3 dogs. (Two puppies.) They get all the care they need, actually behave better than some people’s kids, and we enjoy their company and goofiness.
 
KrazyKat said:
I do not reply to personal questions. Are you aware that people attempt to push you in a corner, and then report you so you will receive points against you? I have stated my opinion quite clearly, as you have yours.

I am in heart failure, I would not allow an animal to be killed to save my life. I put my Trust in Jesus.
Click to expand...
Prayers for you. You are compassionate and brave.
 
thistle said:
I’m not saying we should be cruel to animals. That would be against Church teachings. My point is that anyone with spare money to donate/use should be giving it to help save the lives of people. People are more important than animals (that t mean being cruel to animals!!).
Click to expand...
What I said has nothing to do with cruelty. Is about correlation of actions: there is an extremely high likelihood that the person who spends money helping the animal is also spending money in helping humans; while the person who is not compassionate to animals probably goes exactly the same way about humans. Your view on smaller things is going to get reflected on the bigger things. Both st Francis and Jesus himself said it: if you are not diligent on the smaller things you won’t be diligent on the bigger things. Of you don’t appreciate God’s creation in its smallest form changes are you won’t appreciate humans the way you should.
 
It is heart warming to read post’s that show people’s love of both humans and animals 👍
 
Contarini said:
This is CCC 2415-18. I found it in a few minutes’ Internet search. It’s a good idea to look up what the Catechism says before saying "I heard that it says. . . . " The Catechism is not hard to look up.

Clearly it’s not talking about shelters and things like that. The first sentence of CCC2418 says “it is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly.” Obviously establishing shelters so that they won’t suffer or die needlessly is encouraged, not discouraged. It’s a question of proportion. Some people treat their pets as extensions of their own egos and spend loads of money on them while not caring about human suffering. That’s presumably what the CCC is talking about. Similarly with the “affection due to persons.” It says explicitly that we are to love animals.

Again, looking up the whole passage is a good idea!

Edwin
Click to expand...
Well stated.👍 We should all show the care and love of all God’s creatures in the way of St. Francis of Assisi.
 
marymary1975 said:
😦 so sorry to hear that. I am in the same boat. I lost my 21 year old cat last September and still miss her a lot. And just to add to the conversation Pope Benedict himself is a cat lover.
Click to expand...
21 years old? Wow! That is amazing. You must have taken really good care of her. I am so sorry for your loss.
 
severus68 said:
Some animals are more important to some than many people. That is a fact.

I assume you have no hobbies, live on the bare necessities. Money spent on cars, buying anything but the basics can go to helping children too.
Click to expand...
👍👍
 
I sometimes read a horse board that is overwhelmingly made up of women. Some of things people write there are very sad. There are some that say they prefer people to animals and of those, many say they want to get a hysterectomy because they never want children. Many go so far as to say they hate children. Most of these folks claim to be Wiccan or a militant form of atheism that rears it’s ugly head anytime Chrisitianity comes up. And most are overwhelmingly in support of abortion. Many horsepeople are not like this, but there is a loud, sad minority that makes everyone with horses seem elitist and mean spirited. Makes me glad we are more cattle type people with a few horses, rather than true ‘horsepeople’. These are the people I think of when I read about prioritizing animals over people. I tried very hard to gently represent Christianity, but I don’t go there much anymore. They are viciously anti-Christian and my presence didn’t seem to help.

For vet school applicants, there is a common question to test ethics because vets MUST put human health before animal health. The question is worded in several ways, but one form that i’ve heard of is:

What would you do if you saw a puppy in the road and a baby in the road and you could only save one? If an applicant picks the puppy, they fail. Yes, some people do. :eek:

BTW, having shelters IS prioritizing people. It lowers the risk that goes along with stray animals. That risk was very real for children decades ago and still exists in poorer countries without animal shelters.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top