Does God Care About Animals or Pets?

Is there biblical evidence that God cares for animals, including pets?

The Righteous Animal Caregiver

The Bible is clear that God hates animal cruelty. He equates the righteous with providing adequate and merciful care to their animals. Solomon wrote “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel” (Prov 12:10). The fact that God cares about animals, and this would include pets, is found throughout the Old Testament with the law, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” (Duet 25:4). God considered it cruel to not allow an ox to eat while it worked for the bread of their owners. It seemed obvious even to the self-righteous religious leaders of the Jews that everyone was expected to humanely treat their animals when Jesus ask, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out” (Matt 12:11) even saying “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out” (Luke 14:5)? Obviously, God never condones animal cruelty in any way.

Declaring the creatures Good

In the creation week, God said “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good” (Gen 1:24-25). What God saw as good were all His creatures, whether they’re great and small, it doesn’t matter to God. They are good in His sight. After God had created man, He commanded him to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen 1:28) however God never intended mankind to exploit and cause the untold suffering of countless numbers of creatures. The time is coming when it will be “time to destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth” (Rev 11:18c).

The Fullness of the Earth

We might think that we own what we have but Paul would ask “What do you have that you did not receive” (1st Cor 4:7) and “If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it” (1st Cor 4:8)? God declares, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine” (Psalm 50:10-11) so does God own only the birds and the cattle on one thousand hills? No, He owns the hills too! In fact, the fullness of the earth is God’s and even going beyond that, “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1)! This rules out anything left that God does not own and as rightful owner, He has a right to it. He claims the ultimate ownership of everything, including your pets. If you were a pet owner, wouldn’t you expect someone caring for your precious pet to take good care of them? God expects nothing less from us.

Created for His Glory

Since the creation was made for His glory (Psalm 19:1) this must include the creatures He created. Even mankind was created in God’s image (Gen 1:27), and His creatures, like us, are made for His glory too. God says that even the nation of Israel was “the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise” (Isaiah 43:21) and so let us “give glory to the LORD and proclaim his praise” (Isaiah 42:12).

Conclusion

God cares very much about His creatures as “He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry” (Psalm 147:9) and “The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God” (Psalm 104:21). Truly, God’s eye is on the sparrow “And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Matt 10:29) and even though you could buy five sparrows for a penny, “Yet not one of them is forgotten by God” (Luke 12:6). Since God is mindful of His creatures, we ought to be mindful of how we treat them.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.