ArcaMax

Q: My family had a much-beloved pet rabbit that we rescued/adopted from a hospital lab. I worked at the hospital as a medical photographer, and as such spent a lot of time in various operating rooms and labs. The hospital was doing research with female rabbits and after they were done the animals were euthanized. We adopted three of the rabbits at different times, to save their lives.

The first rabbit (Scrub) contracted a disease called Rabbit Snuffles, which can be fatal. When we took her to the vet, he prescribed medicine for her, but she died. We rescued a second rabbit (Band-Aid) and she too died from the disease. We then rescued a third rabbit that we named Stitches. She too developed the disease, but survived and became the most loving, affectionate little bunny. We had her for many years.

We were in the process of moving from one city to another that was 200 miles away, when Stitches became very ill. We took her to the vet and he said she was dying and in pain, so we had her put to sleep. On the day of our move, after the moving van left, we took a last look around the house and neighborhood. Sitting in the middle of the road was a rabbit, looking at us.

As we got closer the rabbit stayed put. We called out to it and called it ’Stitches,’ and told it that it was OK to go and that we loved her. Then the bunny slowly moved off, and we left. I believe animals have souls, and this was Stitches saying goodbye. – (From A)

A: I agree with you, dear A, and I bless your compassion. The question of whether animals have souls is a hard one. Their ability to love us unconditionally and to receive our love for them, as well as their sacrifices for their offspring are evidence that they are indeed ensouled beings. However, the fact that we eat them and use them to test medicines and other products and use their skins for clothing all point to a common moral intuition that animals, however charming and cuddly, are on a lower order of creation and thus are not the bearers of moral rights in the same way as people.

Of course, vegans and other anti-carnivorous human beings respond to all this by saying that all the pain we cause to animals is morally unjustifiable. I am sympathetic to their arguments but in the end do not agree with them that only plants are truly devoid of moral rights. As usual I find wisdom in biblical teachings about the treatment of animals.

Pack animals were often left to sleep under their loaded burdens. This is prohibited in the law. (Exodus 23:5)

It was prohibited to yoke an ox and a donkey together because this would cause pain for the weaker animal. (Deut 22:10)

When collecting eggs from a nest, the Bible requires that the mother bird sitting on the nest be chased away before collecting the eggs. This was a law intended to alleviate the mother bird’s trauma of seeing her eggs taken before her eyes. (Deut 22:6-7)

Grinding grain into flour involved harnessing an ox to a device that turned a grinding stone in a circle. When the ox stopped it could bend down and eat some of the grain. To prevent this loss of a product it was a common practice in the ancient world to muzzle the ox so it could not eat the grain. However, animals have no pores and so they sweat and cool themselves through their mouths. If they are muzzled, they cannot breathe properly and cannot cool themselves, so they suffer terribly. The Bible prohibits muzzling an ox preferring to lose some grain but protecting the health of the animal. (Deut 25:4 and I Timothy 5:18)

At the end of a long day on a caravan, it was common to eat something right away. The Bible prohibits eating anything until all the animals in the caravan are fed and watered. (Deut 11:15)

What is impressive to me about these and other biblical laws protecting animals is that they occur in a society where eating animals was permitted. What the Bible seems to be teaching us is that animals are spiritually significant creatures because like us they were created by God. However, unlike us they were not created in the image of God. In that moral and spiritual gray zone, we make our way together here on planet earth.

I am with you. I think that when you enter Heaven, Stiches will be just on the other side of the pearly gates twitching a welcome.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

©2024 The God Squad. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

(c) 2024 THE GOD SQUAD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.