Animal cruelty

Every now and again I will get phone calls at my job. Sometimes they are nutbars, sometimes they are just concerned people. On rare occasions, you get the concerned person who just may or may not be a nutbar too. I got a call like that today.

A man called and commented about something I already knew, the inhumane treatment towards animals in the so-called "heartland." He said he was from Colorado and since moving here he had seen some terrible things happening to animals. Since this is the Bible Belt and people profess to love Jesus, he just couldn't understand why people would treat their animals so cruel. He said many times he sees animals tied to trees in thunderstorms - no water, shelter or food. Or he has seen animals tied up in blistering heat. Here is his question to me...how to Christians reconcile themselves to treating God's creatures in such a way?

Why he thought I had that answer, I have no idea. I was ready to write him off but the tone of his voice swayed me. He didn't sound crazy. He was passionate.

I have seen some of this cruelty also and mentioned it. The person I spoke with was more annoyed with this man's generalization about the Bible Belt than with what he said about the animal cruelty. The person said people all over the country treat animals as badly as they do here. WRONG!!!

I didn't go there because I knew it would be a moot point but animals are not treated the same everywhere. I have noticed animal cruelty is much more acceptable here than in other parts of the country. I have no idea why, but I know this to be a fact from my own witnessing.