Was dinner too spicy?

I had a disturbing dream last night. Men were transporting hundreds of dogs via travel trailers, trying to escape from Michael Vick's compound in Virginia so that they could continue to use these animals for upcoming fights. During the trip, a horrible traffic accident occurs and many of the dogs are killed. I drive up shortly after the accident has taken place. The carnage is horrible, but even in the midst of this gruesome incident I am struck by what the uninjured dogs are doing; they are lying next to their mortally wounded pack mates. It seemed they were alternately grieving and/or trying to comfort the injured dogs. The drivers of the travel trailers had fled the scene.

I’m not sure what might have triggered the dream given that a couple of months have passed since charges were first filed against Vick. Perhaps an ad for the new season of the Dog Whisperer had lodged in my subconscious. But there was a recent story in the New York Times that had touched me. An African gray parrot, Alex, died at the age of 31. He had been the subject of intense work by Dr. Irene Pepperberg, a comparative psychologist who had studied and worked with Alex for most of his life. Alex had learned a great deal about English, and at the close of their last work session, he said to Dr. Pepperburg: “You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.” Alex died overnight.

In later online comments posted to this story, I was struck by how hard it was for some writers to imagine that animals other than humans are capable of expressing care and even love for another, particularly a creature not of their species. In other contexts, persons who call themselves Christian also express similar sentiments; humans are made in the image of God, they argue, so animals cannot be that important or share any traits.

While it is certainly the case that Genesis 1 says humans are made in God’s image, we should not overlook other portions of that text. First, God pronounced all of creation “good.” Secondly, humans were given the responsibility to take care of that good creation. Why would God create good creatures only to have humans treat them as though they were disposable goods to be used for our amusement – or for food? After all, Genesis 1: 29-30 does not offer us animals for food!

This discussion highlights a personal problem for me, though, in that while I would never dream of harming a live animal, I have always been willing to eat animal flesh. How do I justify arguing that God is calling us to the care of all creatures when I myself am part of a process that requires the death of animals? I think the reason I can separate these actions is because I am separated from the killing process; if I had to kill the animal I wished to eat, I would have long ago become vegetarian.