I have often been accused of loving animals more than human beings. I am not ashamed to say that this is probably true. My dogs have never called me lazy or accused me of adultery. My birds have never embarrassed me or beaten me. The cats I have owned over the years have never stolen my home or eaten the food meant for my children. The rabbits, goldfish and hamsters who have shared my home at one time or another, have never taken the television remote and changed the channel that I am watching. But human beings have.

Chapter 25, verses 43-44
Have you seen the one whose god is his own ego? Will you be his advocate? Do you think that most of them hear or understand? They are like animals; no, they are far worse.

If you travel the world you will see that in some countries there is a blatant disregard for animal welfare of any kind. God gave us animals to eat, to work with and to have as companions, but many human beings see them as soulless objects to do with as they wish. I have seen a man beat a horse so badly, because it could not pull its load up a hill, that it collapsed with exhaustion but still the man beat it with a stick, swearing and cursing at the horse for its laziness.

We keep animals in cages and treat them like trinkets on a charm bracelet, something to be admired but left dangling until next time we want to look at it. We deprive them of their rights. We make animals do unnatural things for our entertainment such as dancing bears and fighting bulls to show how brave a man can be, even if it does makes him look like a coward bullying an animal.

An Egyptian man bought himself a lion which he was going to fight in public to prove to the world how strong he was. Public outrage brought a stop to his conduct. It must have shamed him into backing down because he did not carry out his threat. Which tourist would really want to see a man fight a feeble lion that has been deprived of food to weaken it, just to prove his manhood?

Chapter 45, verses 3-4
The Heavens and the Earth are full of proofs for the believers. Also in your creation, and the creation of all the animals, there are proofs for people who are certain.

Some people may say I am cruel to keep birds. I rescued my pigeon from certain death by cat and I took my Rosies out of captivity in a tiny cage and gave them the freedom to fly. As for my dogs, we serve each other’s needs, companionship in exchange for a good meal and a warm place to sleep. Do I love them more than people? Well yes, they never do me any harm, they do not ignore me and they appreciate all I do for them without judgement.

Chapter 80, verses 24-32
Let the human consider his food. We pour the water generously. Then we split the soil open. We grow in it grains. Grapes and pasture. Olives and palms. A variety of orchards. Fruits and vegetables. To provide life support for you and your animals.

Today’s society is obsessed with its looks. The cosmetic industry is still testing its chemical products on animals which we later lavishly slather into our skin. Revolutionary new products are smeared into the eyes of rabbit to see the reaction to the chemical soup that will be applied to our own eyes or skin. Why don’t the chemists who dream up these products squirt them into their own eyes? It is after all humans who are going to wear the latest shade of blue eye shadow not a Nederland Dwarf or a Long Eared Lop.

Every living creature on Earth has the right to live on this planet and serve its purpose as every other creature. Human beings are not better than animals we are just a different creation, created for a different purpose and reason. When we say, ‘they are like animals’, it is actually insulting animals. They do not harm each other out of spite, hatred, jealousy or greed they kill each other to survive. That is God’s law. Human beings chose to hurt one another.

Chapter 6, verse 38
All the creatures on Earth and all the birds that fly with wings are communities like you. We did not leave anything out of this book. To their Lord all creatures will be summoned.