Sentinel Watch March 4, 2013 Issue

Prayerfully confronting animal abuse

Leslie Dill Gondolf

A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.

Animal rights organizations tell us that many domestic animals around the world live in deplorable conditions—often neglected, deprived of food and shelter, and, worst of all, physically abused. As an animal lover and owner, I find this kind of behavior toward animals unacceptable. So when a recent move across the country to a rural area brought me face to face with abuse that included owners chaining their dogs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (a practice that deprives them of exercise and human contact, and can lead to physical harm to the animal), as a Christian Scientist I was compelled to confront spiritually the picture of neglect and evil intentions.