Who Are the Real Animals?
A commentary by Gramme Marshall
Pastor of the United Church of God congregation
in Ottawa, Canada
I read a shocking news report not long ago. A Quebec woodsman on a Jet
Ski tried to kidnap a bear cub swimming across a river.
Its mother and sibling were already on the other side, and this cub
was slow in making it across. Grabbing it by the scruff of the neck,
the man on the Jet Ski was attempting to capture it to take it back home
as a pet.
The bear cub broke free eight times by clawing at him, only to be grabbed
again. To wear out the cub, the woodsman started running over it with
the Jet Ski, forcing the cub's head under water.
The 55-year-old woodsman got his best grip by holding the cub upside
down by a hind leg. He then dunked it again and again under water in
a cruel attempt to drain the cub's energy. The cub was now moaning, desperately
trying to breathe.
Eventually wildlife officers turned up and captured the bear to release
it as an orphan in another part of the forest. It's feared the cub will
not survive on its own.
Letters to the editor published in the newspaper were peppered with
such words and phrases as "disgusting," "outrage," "upset," "no
sane explanation for his behavior" and "too bad we can't dunk
the man by his hind leg-maybe he would learn to treat animals with respect." For
the woodsman's part, he said that if given a chance, he'd do it again.
Is it man's destiny to ride roughshod over animals? In today's world,
greed and superstition are two powerful forces more important than the
welfare of animals. Consider, for example, Africa and Asia .
Sometime in the late 1970s half the white rhinoceros population of Uganda
suddenly disappeared. Only two were left in the country and the last
was shot, probably by poachers.
To be fair, it might be hard to blame genuinely poverty-stricken, hungry
people in Uganda if they shoot animals for needed cash or food. But after
Idi Amin's reign of terror, tens of thousands of weapons were available
and gangs today are often better armed than the rangers who guard park
reserves.
Poachers mostly go for ivory, but if they come across a rhino they'll
shoot it as well. But they only take the horn, leaving the carcass to
rot.
In northern Tanzania poachers have wiped out 90 percent of the rhinos
in the past 10 years. It's reported that the greatest demand for rhino
horn is South Africa , especially in mutu shops of Johannesburg
and Pretoria .
Mutu is a Zulu word for "medicine," and in these
shops an array of herbal and animal products-including rhino-are sold.
Zulus buy a little powdered rhino horn mixed with dried lice, which they
swallow to treat jaundice.
But rhino hide sells more than the horn. Zulus sometimes burn a piece
of the hide inside their homes believing the vapors will drive away evil
spirits. They also eat a bit of rhino hide to stop a nosebleed or ill
effects from snakebite.
North Yemen is a large illegal importer of rhino horn. More than 80
percent of Yemeni men wear daggers called jambiyya, and the
best handles are made from rhino horn. This market has increased the
value of rhino horn 15-fold-leading to the deaths of thousands of animals.
Probably the oddest medicinal superstition for the rhino product is
the practice of zookeepers in Rangoon , Burma , who collect the urine
of a baby rhino which they drink as a cure for sore throats and to ward
off asthma attacks. The Calcutta Zoo earned $750 in just one year from
the sale of an old rhino's urine. At least in these cases the animal
isn't killed.
But is this man's destiny, practicing medicinal cures through the slaughter
of game animals?
God is a compassionate God. His nature is one of mercy and kindness.
We are to become like Him in our attitude and character. His conversation
with Jonah showed He cared for animals, too, when debating the destruction
Nineveh , which had many thousands of people "and much livestock" (Jonah
4:11 ). Scripture tells us that God cares for the birds and plants of
the field (Matthew 6:25 -30).
This, then, is a great God who cares for the entire physical environment-chief
of which are human beings made in His image. When He created the first
man, He gave human beings responsibility over His creation, placing Adam
in Eden "to tend and keep it" (Genesis 2:15 ). Man was given
a responsibility to rule over the creation, but that rulership must be
in wisdom, love, justice and mercy, reflecting the mind and attitude
of God Himself.
After all, this life is a training ground for our ultimate destiny.
Read our booklet What
Is Your Destiny- it's one greater than that of animals.
And it's one that requires humans to exercise love and compassion to
all living things. |
