Remember That Animals, Like Humans, Suffer

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 232, 30 September 1944, Page 4

Remember That Animals, Like Humans, Suffer

By REV. CANON C. W. CHANDLER

A MATTER that is seldom raised ** by Christian people and much less in pulpits by the clergy (including myself) is that of "Kindness to Animals." There is an opinion abroad that all such talk is a trifle "sentimental," "pussy," or what you will. The whole subject seems to many to belong to elderly people with a little money and plenty of time. For ihstance, the following advertisement is from the Spectator, 7/5/43:—

Animals in Algeria and Tunisia—Free Animal Hospitals urgently need reconstruction. Horses, mules, donkeys, camels, now chief means of civil transport, suffer from neglected sores and injuries. . . .— Society lor the Protection of Animals in North Africa.

The Duchess of Portland is the gracious lady behind that appeal. The unusual nature of the advertisement somewhat startles us. There is an ancient proverb which says that "the best metal is iron, the best vegetable is wheat, and the worst animal is man." It is certain that at the hands of man the lower animals have suffered most, as it is also true that at the hands of man man has suffered most, for, as Oliver Goldsmith reminds us, "brutes never meet in bloody fray, nor cut each other's throats for pay."

Have They Got Souls?

Our whole attitude to lower animal creation must largely be influenced by our opinion as to their status in the scheme of Creation. Have they got souls? According to the Rev. V. A. Holmes-Gore (an Anglican priest), who wrote "These We Have Not Loved," they assuredly have. Several non-Christian religions express the same opinion. Here let it also be said that these non-Christian religionists have, through the centuries, shown greater love for these "lesser children" of our Heavenly Father than have Christians themselves. With the notable exceptions of such saints as Chrysostom, Columba, Cuthbert, Hugh and Francis, the "official" Christian attitude has been one of almost complete indifference. No bishop of the Church of England supported the Bill for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1809 and none of them took part in the discussion of the Prevention of Cruelty to Cattle Bill in 1824, while in the Catholic Dictionary of 1897 it distinctly states that "they are not created by God."

On the other hand, Buddha wrote, "The practice of religion involves, as the first principle, a loving, compassionate heart for all creatures." Of Mohammed it is said that "his humanity extended itself to the lower creation. He forbade the cutting of the manes and tails of horses, and when some of his followers set fire to an ant hill he compelled them to extinguish it." And Jesus said, "are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God." All Life Is One Leo Tolstoy wrote a story called "Esarhaddon, King of Assyria" (in aid of persecuted Jews), and that story centres around the idea that "all life is one," and it wasn't until Esarhaddon, in a dream, found himself to be a she-ass with a young colt, "poking him under the stomach with its smooth little muzzle," that he realised this truth. Of a sudden something flew near with a whistling sound and struck the young colt in its side, "it sobbed piteously and fell upon its knees. ... A fearful two-legged being—a man—ran up and cut its throat." A sage "with a long grey beard and mild eyes" said to Esarhaddon, "The life of a moment and the life of a thousand years, 'your life and the life of all the visible and invisible beings in the world, are equal. . . . " Afterwards the king went about as a wanderer through the towns and villages, preaching to the people that "all life is one."

A Contrast A final reference, and this time from Lafcadio Hearn, that first-rate dabbler in the odd, strange and sometimes gruesome in literature and life, "The sight of slaughter will never cease to exercise a certain fascination upon those unfamiliar with its horrors. And the higher the organisation of the victim, the greater must be the interest in its sufferings." This essay of Hearn's is a gory and yet magnificently told story of a slaughterhouse. He depicts the agonies of frightened steers. It is a terrifying picture. Against this he contrasts a Jewish slaughterhouse where the Shochet (a man thoroughly versed in Hebrew doctrine) wields with humane dexterity his two-foot knife, bright as silver, keen as a razor, and tempered so that it would ring like a bell if tapped with the finger nail." He must take heed to inflict the lease- possible amount of suffering. "Having discharged this duty conscientiously and found the animal healthy, the Shochet stamps the meat with mystic Hebrew characters which in English means ' kosher.' Cruelty is never practised in Hebrew slaughterhouses; at least, never in the presence of the Shochet. His religion, his humanity and the hygiene of his profession alike prohibit any unnecessary violence to poor dumb brutes, and his keen eyes are always. watchful." Animal Week It is because to-morrow is the first day in a World Week for Animals that the foregoing has been set down. It was the efforts of a London vicar to prohibit cruel sports that led to the establishment of the R.S.P.C.A., the greatest single animal protection society in the world. We would do weir to remember that St. Paul, in the familiar passage from Ephesians which runs, "the whole Creation groaneth and travaileth in sorrow until now,'' clearly hints that a community of love and compassion must exist between ourselves and lower animal creation.