God’s Good Gift of Pets
Photo and story by Sarah Burt
On Thursday 12th June, after seventeen years of hellos and goodbyes, I said goodbye to my beloved dog Maya for the final time. She closed her weary eyes and drifted off while I hugged her tight and told her how much I loved her and that I was right by her side. The vet left us alone together and, strangely, sitting with my dog’s body didn’t seem too weird or morbid. I knew it was the last time I would ever see her. I thanked God for seventeen years of her faithful friendship and even for all the irksome things (like dragging home many revolting carcasses on the farm), with tears fogging my glasses.
Maya came to live with us in May 2008 when my husband and I had been married only a month. A nine-week-old Kelpie/Border Collie, she was bought to be a working dog. She combined that with the role of beloved pet until she retired from sheep work at age eleven and became a full-time companion animal. She’d lived on three different farms and shared her life with various dogs, cats, chickens, and, later, children. Always welcoming, always patient, always loving. Married life almost feels strange without her here.
Some people, who’ve never known the privilege of loving a pet may think it’s weird. “It’s just a dog”, I’ve heard some people say. Thankfully, no-one said this to me or my family, but I know some people do see animals only for what they provide in terms of food or other products. On the opposite end of the scale, you have people parading their ‘fur-babies’ across social media, spoiling them with accessories as if they were a human child.
Both opinions annoy me. Maya was a loved member of my family, but she was not a child or my children’s ‘fur-sister.’ Apart from a few times when the weather was scorching or when she was recovering from a broken foot, she spent her entire life outside. This horrifies some people (including some animal rescues) who think animals should share their humans’ beds and even have a place at the dinner table (it’s a no from me).
I find myself chuckling when people insist having a pet is exactly like having a child. My children have been far more stressful to care for than any animal I’ve had. I also realise that seeing pets as children often comes from a place of deep longing and sadness.
I believe that pets are one of God’s good gifts to us. Although God said to Adam in the Garden of Eden that it is not good for man to be alone and no suitable helper could be found in creation, animals still make wonderful companions. There is nothing quite like a dog who lies down beside you when you are sad, or stroking a purring cat at the end of a stressful day.
We may not speak the same language, but so much understanding still passes between us. I can understand why lonely people adopt pets and prefer their company. When I’ve been hurt by other people, I’ve found peace and calm by being with my pets. I think it points to the gravity of sin and fractured relationships between people that they prefer the company of animals.
Yet, there still remains a part of us that animals cannot reach. Despite our loneliness and hurt, we need the relationships that only other people can give us. We need family, friends, church family, and most of all, our Lord Jesus. Sometimes people’s obsession with their pets borders on idolatry. It tips the created order on its head - the same as in Genesis 3 - with the animal calling the shots.
Although God loves and cares for His animals, our relationship with Him is unique. We are made in the image of God. Animals are not. There is something very wrong with the world when there are calls for killing a chimpanzee to be seen as murder, yet an unborn child is not given that dignity. We are called to care for creation, but not be mastered by it.
I miss Maya and I miss the many pets whom I’ve had the privilege of sharing my life and home. I stare out the window at the rose bush that marks Maya’s grave. I chat with my boys about the good times we’ve shared with her, and try to help them navigate their grief. I hope people who haven’t had the joy of having a pet get to experience it one day. I’m thankful for the honour and responsibility of caring for them, for the unconditional love I’ve received (maybe not always from cats), and the faithfulness of dogs reminds me of my great God. He is far more faithful than any person or animal.
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Sarah Burt - Regular Contributor
Sarah grew up in a non-Christian family in Albany, met some Christian friends in high school, then Jesus became her Lord and Saviour while at University. She now lives with her husband and two boys, two dogs and a number of chooks on a farm near Tambellup in the Great Southern. She is a school officer by day, and enjoys writing fiction and performing in amateur theatre in her spare time.