Someone told me that Aug. 26 is National Dog Day. I have a dog! I’ve had dogs, cats, rats, fish, and chickens. I feel very possessive of the hummingbirds I shelter in my garden. My next thought was what does Judaism teach about the treatment of animals? In ancient times animals were not pets, they were essentially living tools who plowed, guarded, carried, and generally performed tasks for their owners.
If you’ve seen those heartbreaking photos of donkeys weighed down beneath loads they can barely carry you might think that humans are just now learning how to respect and care about the feelings, physical and emotional, of creatures.
Not so. The Torah offers many guidelines (commandments) for how we are required to treat animals. Here are just three of them:
A person must feed his animals before himself (Deuteronomy 11:15)
Animals must be allowed to rest on the Sabbath (Ex. 20:10, and Deut 5: 14)
An animal’s suffering must be relieved (Deuteronomy 12:4)
There is a rather primitive website of which I’m fond that teaches simply and thoroughly about Judaism. It’s called JewFAQ. The page that delves into treatment of animals is here.
Teaching your children how to respect and care for pets is a real life experience of Jewish values. Relating commandments (good actions) to their lived experience and the loved creatures will make the message so much easier to grasp and repeat.
Note: The authors of JewFAQ will give you the facts according to Jewish law. Like everyone reading this, they anticipate that you will object to some of them. So you’ll find some humorous moments and the acceptance that the reader is unlikely to be ruled by the Jewish facts.