Is Animal Cruelty a sin?

[White Knight]

Hello everyone, I know its early/late here on phatmass, but I decided to post this anyway.

Is Animal Cruelty a sin you think?

Say like one gives three warnings to a pet, but the pet doesn't stop, you hit the pet, out of punishment/justice, to get the point across, but you dont do it extremely, like keep on hitting the pet, attentionally for no reason.


Is hitting your pet out of punihsment/justice a sin?


Thank you.

[cmotherofpirl]

It depends on how you define cruelty.
Cruelty is a sin, because we are stewards of God's creation, not the Lord and MAster.

It depends on the pet: dog cat etc.
Most pets do not understand warnings or numbers or time.


Dogs understand the tone of your vioce, so saying you are "bad dog" generally works well.
Water pistols work on cats

I did smack my dog when she took my sandwich right off the table, and I remember a St Bernard getting severely wacked when he had stolen the Easter ham off the table, but that is an extreme circumstance.

[picchick]

It really honestly depends. My boyfriend has a puppy. To train it they say, "No" and bop her on the nose. I see no problem in training your dog you say no in a firm tone and then bop them. That way the associate the voice with the action and they know if you use that voice then they should stop.


Animal cruelty is also neglect. I think that it is wrong because we are suppose to take care of what God gave us to take care of. If you know that you are unable to take care of you pet whether it be a cat, dog, fish, hamster, cow, or horse then don't get it.

Some of my friends say that eating meat is animal cruelty. I don't agree with that because I like my steak once in a while when it is affordable. I believe that God gave us the animals to eat and take care of. As long as you do it respectfully.

[avemaria40]

I am against animal cruelty and i believe we are allowed to eat animals, as long as they are allowed their mother's milk, allowed to move and eat grass, not pumped up w/hormones and antibiotics, and when they are killed, it is in a humane and sanitary way. Also b/c meat is healthier if we keep the animals healthy and happy :

[White Knight]

ummm.

[zwergel88]

cruelty to animals is very bad. I am no expert on this, but I would think it would be a sin to cause unnecessary suffering to any creature.

[FlyLikeABird]

Ok, I'm gonna go Scriptural on this, feel free to put in chapter and verse, I never can remember that.

"See the birds in the field. They do not toil nor do they reap, but the Lord God knows them all." --- Thus God know all animals and treats them as his own, so God knows if we injure an animal.

"Whatsoever you do to the least of these you do to me." --- I know this is generally referenced as treating other people as we would like to be treated but coupled with the above quote it still fits.

We can also look at St. Francis of Assisi. He wrote entire songs devoted to God's earthly creatures praising them as "brothers" and "sisters".

One can argue that Christ showed cruelty towards the pigs that he sent the demons into when curing the lunatic in the dessert. However, in the light of our knowledge of Jewish culture we can see that a Jewish man would have chosen a pig rather than say a goat.

[scardella]

[quote name='White Knight' date='Sep 3 2005, 04:36 AM']Hello everyone, I know its early/late here on phatmass, but I decided to post this anyway.

Is Animal Cruelty a sin you think?

Say like one gives three warnings to a pet, but the pet doesn't stop, you hit the pet, out of punishment/justice, to get the point across, but you dont do it extremely, like keep on hitting the pet, attentionally for no reason.
Is hitting your pet out of punihsment/justice a sin?
Thank you.
[right][snapback]709406[/snapback][/right]
[/quote]

It really depends on what you mean by cruelty to animals.

If you mean any sort of disciplining in a physical sense, ie whacking them when they've done something wrong, etc., then it's necessary sometimes. If you mean only when torturing it or whacking it because you're expecting superanimal effort out of the thing, then yes, it's wrong.

In response to the situation you've outlined, I would say that is certainly not a sin.

[MichaelFilo]

Behavioral psychology would show that hitting an animal as negative reinforcment (that is, causing is discomfort or pain) is actually entirely effective to get it to not do what you don't want it to. It's really easy to draw the line between cruelty and discipline however.

God bless,
Mikey

[StColette]

Yes, Cruelty to animals is a sin.

God gave man charge over the care, protection, and use of animals.

Physical abuse of an animal is definitely cruelty. It's okay to discipline an animal but it's another thing to beat them. There's a definite line between correction and abuse. Also, some animals will no respond to physical discipline and will normally need some other type of punishment to trigger a negative reward for something they've done. For example, if my sheltie, Dixie, does something wrong, like chews on the couch or on my shoes, we put her in her kennel for a time out. This triggers a response for her to know that what she did was wrong.

Another type of physical abuse would be training animals to literally try and kill one another or to attack someone, with the exception of police dogs. For example, dog fighting, rooster fighting, etc. are definitely cruel and result in the dogs or roosters either killing one another or them having to be put down if they are turned over to authorities or being put down by their owners.

Another type of abuse is neglect. For example, tying a dog outside in extremely hot weather, with no place for getting out of the sun and in the shade, having no water or food. This is definitely cruelty to animals. Also neglect in the since that you do not pay attention to the animal at all. Animals love to be loved and they loved to get attention. Animals who don't receive this type of love can often act out, which can lead to physical abuse.

Another example of animal cruelty is abandoning animals. Now while wild animals are capable of fending for themselves, domestic animals do not necessarily have the type of natural skills to find food and water.

In Addition, to treating an animal who is ill is considered abuse by the ASPCA. If you're going to have a pet you must be capable to provide medical care for that animal. If you can't then you shouldn't own an pet. Just like people, dogs and other animals need to go to the doctor too.

Follow the example of St. Francis of Assisi. He respected the life of animals, and saw them as part of God's creation. They belong to God and are not to be abused or mistreated by those who have been given authority over them.

For more info:

[url="http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=3474"]http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=3474[/url]

[url="http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=1463"]http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=1463[/url]

[url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04542a.htm"]http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04542a.htm[/url]

[photosynthesis]

the Catechism says that we are required to have a "religious respect for the integrity of creation." (CCC 2415)

CCC 2418:
"It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. it is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery."

[photosynthesis]

the Catechism says that we are required to have a "religious respect for the integrity of creation." (CCC 2415)

CCC 2418:
"It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. it is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery."

[White Knight]

Double Post.