Animals

Lollipop

Missy

            









In Sochi the Russian government is killing the stray dogs that roam the Olympic Village.  Volunteers are on a race against time to save theses dogs.  Here is link to an article about this effort: http://www.aol.com/article/2014/02/11/volunteers-smuggle-sochi-dogs-out-of-town/20827857/


How can one look at the photos in this article and want to kill innocent creatures?  Yet it happens everyday, too much to count.  If not killed, animals are abused or neglected across the globe.


One might wonder why should I care when there is so much human suffering around the world?  When there are children dying of starvation, women having no rights, civilians being bombed as they go about their everyday lives?


I do care about those things.  But it seems like those things, at least to me, are far away.  I live a pretty secluded life in my hometown of Anoka, MN.  I don't see starvation, women have equal rights, and we are not bombed.  No terrorist wants to waste his time in my little city where they can make a much bigger impact elsewhere!


I do give to charitable organizations that help people like this around the world.  And I pray for them.  But here, right here in my backyard, there are animals suffering with abuse and neglect.  And I can do something about it here.


Some people like to say that humans are more important and we should worry about them.  They like to use “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground," in Genesis 1:26.  I think God meant that we are to be like a benevolent ruler, like a king who provides for his people and ensures their safety.  To rule over them is not to abuse or neglect them.


Not only that, but my pets have always ministered to me throughout my life.  I owe it to them to help others like them.  When I say good-bye to my cat Chocolate before I go volunteer at the Animal Humane Society, I tell him I am helping others like him, for he was a stray.  The dog pictures on the top of this page are the dogs that my sister and her family adopted from a rescue.  My parents  adopted the one on the bottom.  We all say they have been the best pets we've ever had.  It's as if the animals know they have been given a second chance, and they are so grateful.


Animals depend on us to take care of them, whether it be domestic pets, wild animals, or farm animals.  They depend on us to do what is best for them, whatever that may be.  So that is why the stray dogs in Sochi matter. 




Minnie

Chocolate