Do you have a pet? They can bring so much into our lives and families. I encourage you to interact with, play with and love your pets. They need that from you. Peace family, I have a neighbor that keeps 2 dogs chained in their backyard 24/7 and leaves them outside even during the cold weather and it breaks my heart. Sometimes I will go over to the fence and talk to them. The one chained closest to me I can pet and feed and water. I wish I could reach the other one too. I have watched these dogs suffer and heard their mournful cries night after night.

I was finally able to go over and knock on my neighbor’s door yesterday and ask her about her dogs. I told her I would take them if she didn’t want them and how starved for attention they are. She told me they were her son’s dogs, but he no longer lived there and she really didn’t know what to do with them. She said she felt it was time to give them away but needed to talk to her son first. That lifted my heart to know maybe the dogs will have a chance to have another home. Maybe not mine, but someone who will care for them and play with them and see that their needs are met.

I wondered what the Bible had to say about it and felt Billy Graham would be a good source. Here is his answer:

My pets mean a lot to me, and I hate to see people neglect animals or treat them cruelly. Does the Bible say anything about how we should treat animals? God made them also, didn’t He?

A:

Yes, God made everything that lives on the earth — including the animals. In the beginning, the Bible says, “God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals….’ And it was so” (Genesis 1:24).

And yes, the Bible commands us to take care of the animals under our care. One of the signs of a righteous man, the Bible says, is that he takes care of his animals (see Proverbs 12:10). Even the animal of an enemy was to be treated kindly: “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him” (Exodus 23:4). One reason God commanded His people to rest one day out of seven was so their animals would be refreshed (see Exodus 23:12).

In fact, the Bible says we must never treat any part of God’s creation with contempt. When we do, we are indirectly treating our Creator with contempt. Instead, God calls us to be stewards or trustees of His creation, and the Bible reminds us that we are responsible to Him for the way we treat it. We’ve often forgotten this — but it’s still true, and when we ignore it we not only hurt God’s creation but we also hurt ourselves.

We love you Peace Family!