I love animals (er, actually dogs) as much as the next guy but have we lost our senses over them? Over the past several months I have come across some pretty strange behavior concerning people and pets. (Put that thought out of your mind!)
First, I was reading a Christian blog (which shall remain nameless) where the blogger posted on the ordeal of putting his dog to sleep and the astronomical costs associated with such an endeavor. The comments shocked me. Some were down right silly. Example: "I cannot believe you did not stay with your pet while he was dying." Or this one, "How could you leave him in such a sterile environment for his last moments on earth?" From there the comments degenerated into a discussion on whether or not Fluffy will be in heaven when we get there to greet us!
Call me cruel but I could not resist posting this:
It is obvious no one posting here grew up on a farm. I did not either but visited my country cousins every summer. Here are some animal hightlights:
Cost of euthanasia for one sick old herding dog: one bullet.
Barn cat have kitties? Uh oh...They have to go. See that pond over there.....(enough said)
Lame horse: two bullets. Did you know there are actually people out there who will come and take large dead animals off your hands?
Don't get attached to the chickens or name the pig...Unless, of course, you name her: Ham Sandwich.
This city girl spent many a summer in tears over the destiny of these animals. My country cousins made a lot of fun of me.
On a farm you get an education real quick on our dominion over animals and their uses for us.
One commenter just about blew a gasket over the above said comment. He claimed he did live on a farm and they NEVER treated their animals as cruelly as I mentioned.
By the way, I was joking around about the pigs and horses...But not the kittens.
OK, so on with my main point. The second sighting of strange behavior occured while reading about the flood of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Douglas Brinkley chronicles the flood in his book, The Great Deluge. 
The first chapter opens with a very telling story. The animal rescue people loaded their charges into air conditioned trucks complete with water and food and sent them to Texas BEFORE the Hurricane.
All through the book we hear about animal rescues and protection. Some New Orleans policemen, who were pretty much either looting or stealing Escalades AND driving around without stopping, were guarding the animals at the city Aquarium. Rich people from somewhere (probably California) made sure the penguins were evacuated BEFORE all the people got out. On a plane, no less. There were animal rescue trucks at the Convention Center taking pets who were not allowed on the FEW buses that showed up at first. Couldn't the animal trucks take PEOPLE instead?
I could go on and on about the animal stories in this book but I think you get the point.
What has gotten into us when it comes to animals? Have we elevated animals to such a degree that it may cause us to sin?
Think of the Old Testament for a moment. Think of all the animal sacrifices that went on. Now, we are not talking about the ugly brown lamb...We are talking about the perfect one-white and spotless. Think cute and cuddly.
We also do not read about Elijah's loyal dog that followed him everywhere. Or David's favorite horse. Or Esther's house cat. No. What we read are dogs lapping up Jezebel's blood.
For the record, I am NOT advocating cruelty. (Please no PETA mail) Just some good old fashioned horse sense when it comes to animals. Here's a thought: SAVE THE PEOPLE FIRST!
Here are some verses to get a feel for...say... how dogs are viewed in scripture:
Exodus 22:31
"You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.
1 Kings 16:4
Dogs will eat those belonging to Baasha who die in the city, and the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country
1 Kings 21:23
And also concerning Jezebel the LORD says: 'Dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of [a] Jezreel.
Job 30:1
But now they mock me, men younger than I, hose fathers I would have disdained to put with my sheep dogs.
Psalm 22:16
Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced [a] my hands and my feet
Jeremiah 15:3
I will send four kinds of destroyers against them," declares the LORD, "the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.
Matthew 7:6
Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
There are many more but I think you get the picture. (By the way, there were no results when I tried to do a search on cats in the Bible. This proves my point that they are not worth even mentioning!)
And, I wish people would stop discussing if their pets will be in heaven. Perhaps we should be more concerned that Aunt Edna and Uncle Mort will be there.
To recap: People are more important than penguins.
