How were animals treated in the Biblical times?
Mainly animals were used in Biblical allusion, imagery or parables. Sometimes there was commentary on the nature of animals. What stood out to me is that there are entire chapters in the Bible (Leviticus 1-7) on proper ritualistic sacrifice of animals to repent for sin. There is nothing speckled in about merciful death, nor ethical treatment of these animals. They were used as a blood sacrifice to God, at a primitive time in our existence. In modern times, such sacrifices would seem cult-like and scary. You sin against your neighbor, so you have to wring the neck of two pigeons and let their blood drip onto an altar (yikes!). Under the New Covenant in Christ, many Christians believe these sacrifices became obsolete, in that Christ sacrificed Himself as the final "lamb" for our atonement. It is my own personal opinion that a more primitive humanity lumped God together with all of the angry, bloodthirsty gods of the time, and that Jesus preached an alternative view of God. What cannot be denied is that people in Biblical times valued the life of all living things, even if to modern eyes, this seems like a funny way of showing it!
I don't think we were meant to get to this point, offering blood sacrifices to appease an angry God. In the first Creation story, God made animals first and "saw that it was good". Then God made humanity to care for Creation. Don't tell your cats, they already act like the cream of the crop.
God "blessed" the animals and commanded them to "be fruitful and multiple". Both the people and the animals were given fruit and vegetation to eat (Genesis 1:29-30). Though human beings were made in the image of heavenly beings, they ate the same as their animal companions. This is the original harmony of the Garden of Eden- how God envisioned humanity spending its days, until they made another choice.
After the fall of humanity, we used animals for food, and we began to domesticate them to aid us with our labors (as our burden was now to work for our food). God did set some limits- Mosaic law forbids the overworking of farm animals (which is a grave ethical issue today, especially for farm animals). The Law also commanded people to help even an enemy who has an animal carrying a burden that is too heavy (Exodus 23:4-5)- whether this is for practicality (an animal with a broken back can't carry anything) is unknown.
(4)Is it also for practicality or ethical treatment that on the "seventh day" work animals are also commanded to rest, as part of the laws given to Moses by God? Is it for practicality or proper treatment that they were told not to pair a weaker animal with a stronger animal, so that the weaker doesn't bear too heavy a burden (Deuteronomy 22:10)(2)?
It is practical to treat animals fairly, that much I am sure of. It is practical to let animals rest from their work. And if there is a practical purpose to something, it may just be that God intended it that way, for the animal's sake. I am a big believer that there are no mistakes to God's design, only ways in which we distort our original harmony with them.
An Argument For Better Treatment- The story that stands out
There is a parable of a man in the second book of Samuel, told to David by Nathan. It goes like this- A poor man had a lamb. He loved it and treated "like a daughter", even letting the lamb eat and sleep with him. The animal grew up with his children.
The man was grieved and vengeful when a traveler slaughtered his lamb. David, when told this story, said the man "had no pity" and would pay "four times over" for what he had done. Then Nathan tells David that David is like the traveler who killed the lamb, and David, seeing the connection, says that he has "sinned against the Lord". Was the sin grave in the parable because the man loved and cared for the lamb, or because the lamb was simply beloved property, and all the poor man had? Irregardless, this is one of the first allusions to those in Old Testament Times owning a beloved pet, and you can all but feel the man's anguish. There is a Proverb that says, "A righteous man has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked are cruel" (12:10)(2). The man certainly cared greatly for his lamb, and we cannot deny the actions of the traveler were cruel, to both lamb and owner.
Though the story from II Samuel is the most powerful story I can find in defense of a Biblical consideration of treating animals well, I see merciful treatment and reflections on the importance of the lives of animals throughout the Bible. Psalm 145 boasts of God's steadfast love for "every living thing", and Jesus says God does not forget but one sparrow in all of Creation (Matthew 10:29). Can you see the image of God in your neighbor putting up their birdhouse to feed the birds (Matthew 6:26)? How about helping a turtle across the road or helping an animal out of a body of water, or in Jesus' example, a well (Luke 14:5)?
Our "dominion" over Creation is not a place of power, but of great responsibility. It is humbling and satisfying to support Creation in a sustainable, kind and just manner. The mercy, love, kindness and humility preached as positive qualities throughout the Bible are visibly exemplified in how we see one another treat animals.
1.) https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/dogs-in-the-bible/
2.) https://www.humanesociety.org/sites/default/files/docs/replenish-booklet-in-color.pdf
3.) https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=13533&picture=baby-lamb
4.) https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=273172&picture=three-donkeys-pulling-a-donkey-cart
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