“Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Gen. i. 28 and ix. 2, &c.; comp. Ps. viii. 7, &c.). Thus spake the Creator to the first man. He gave him a right to make use of the animals for his benefit; and man makes the animals work for him; they serve him as food, provide him with clothing and other necessary or useful things. In return for all these services the animals ought to be treated with kindness and consideration. It is a necessity to force certain beasts to work for us, and to kill certain animals for various purposes. But in doing so we must not cause more pain than is absolutely necessary. It is a disgraceful act to give pain to animals merely for sport, and to enjoy their agony. Bullfights and similar spectacles are barbarous, and tend to corrupt and brutalise [[319]]the heart of man. The more we abstain from cruelty to animals, the more noble and loving is our conduct likely to be to one another. “A righteous man regardeth the feelings of his beast, but the heart of the wicked is cruel” (Prov. xii. 10).
The following are instances of kindness to animals enjoined in the Pentateuch:—
“Ye shall not kill an animal and its young on one day” (Lev. xxii. 28).
“If a bird’s nest happen to be before thee on the way upon the earth or upon a tree, with young ones or eggs, thou shalt not take the mother with the young. Let the mother go away; then thou mayest take the young ones, in order that it may be well with thee, and thy days be long” (Deut. xxii. 6, 7).
“Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn” (ibid. xxv. 4).
In the Talmud we have the following saying in the name of Rab:—“We must not begin our meal before having given food to our cattle; for it is said, ‘And I will give you grass in thy field for thy cattle,’ and after that ‘thou shalt eat and be full’ ” (Deut. xi. 15; Babyl. Talm. 40a).
C.—Duties to Ourselves.
Our duties to ourselves are to a great extent included in our duties towards God and towards our fellow-men, because these likewise tend to promote our own well-being.
The fundamental principle of our duties towards [[320]]ourselves is to make the best use of the gifts which the kindness of God has bestowed upon us.