On Kindness

Today is the last day of "Be Kind to Animals Week" here in Australia. As my brother so aptly said when I shared the image on Facebook, "It should be every week."  I agree.

So what does kindness look like and which animals should we be paying attention to?

According to a Google definition search, Kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate.

So being friendly to animals would be treating them in a way that they perceive as not threatening in anyway. Being generous can involve time, money and presence. Consideration of the animals welfare, comfort, happiness and needs.

Kindness is also mentioned in the Bible in the book of  Galatians, as one of the "Fruits of the Spirit".

So which animals are we supposed to be kind to? The nice ones? The fluffy ones? The endangered ones? Yes. AND ALL THE REST. As much as is sanely possible.

God gave Adam and Eve dominion over all the animals of the Earth. Then they filled the Earth with their children.  We, as descendants of them, are still meant to carry out that mandate to look after and care for these animals. This includes meat-eaters before they use the animal for food, not like what factory farmers do now.

My choice is to not consume animals nor their by-products. I will adopt animals from rescue shelters instead of supporting pet shops and puppy farms. I will only have the amount of animals I can afford to take care of properly, including vet bills, worming, etc. I walk, bathe and feed my animals as needed as well as lavish love and attention on them. I don't leave my animals alone, locked up, nor unattended for extended periods of time. I allow adequate space for my animals. I have desexed my animals and do not let them wander the neighbourhood to harass other people or animals/wildlife. I donate to charities to help them care for animals or educate others on animals welfare.

This to me is what it means to be kind to animals.