2. O heavenly Father,
protect and bless all things that have
breath: guard them from all evil and
let them sleep in peace.

3.  I’m sure this will come as a huge shock to
everyone, but my training is in veterinary
medicine …not theology
 I can find passages and stories in the bible
that support the idea of an animal soul
 I can also find passages and stories that do not
support the idea of an animal soul
 Breath of life…

4.  Uniqueness of man compared to the lower animal
creation.
 The fate of man and animals
› “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and
the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7)
› “Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth
upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth
downward to the earth?” (Ecc. 3:21)
 Nephesh….

5.  But I can’t imagine it any other way.
 The animals I’ve known have exhibited soul
qualities in abundance…

7.  Not a vegetarian…should I be?
 Do only cute/fluffy animals have souls?
 Were some animals put here for our use only
(ie food/comfort/etc) and not for their own
existence? Do they have a soul? Every
chicken, every cow, everything?
 I definitely don’t have the answers to many of
these questions…it’s a personal journey.
 I’m asking you to be open to the idea that
animals possess a soul.

8.  "I think using animals for food is an
ethical thing to do, but we've got to do
it right. We've got to give those
animals a decent life and we've got to
give them a painless death. We owe
the animal respect." —Temple
Grandin

9.  Veterinarians are in
a unique position
to witness animal
spirituality.
 Stoic suffering and
euthanasia, herois
m and
unconditional
love…animals are
beautiful and pure.

12. This dog is obviously feeling very “spiritual”…

13.  For the next series of
slides, I’m asking
everyone to just shout out the first
word that comes to mind when you
see the photograph.

41.  Soul is not the physical
body, emotions, culture, consciousness, gender, s
pecies, or personality.
 The true and eternal self that never dies.
 The soul animates the physical body, infusing it
with personality, feelings, thoughts, and
conscious awareness.
 At death, the soul leaves the body, but it survives
another realm.
 During life, the soul inspires spiritual impulses
such as unconditional
love, creativity, imagination, intuition, and free
will.

44.  Because animals play such an important
role in our lives, we give them names, just as we
give names to our children. Although, we are
often less inhibited when it comes to naming our
pets…
› Think a boa constrictor named Julius
Squeezer, doberman Dobi Wan Kenobi, Shih Tzu
puppy named Blago (because of his hair), kitty named
Meow Ming, Egg’s Benedict (Ben for short), Edgar
Allen Poo, Murphy O’Drool, Maximum Bob, potbellied
pigs named Porter and Guiness….I could go on and on
and on…

46. Well…what
constitutes creepy?

48. The serpent is also the symbol of the caduceus which is both a veterinary and medical doctor
symbol.

49.  Serpent:
› Shedding of skin and
renewal is emphasized as
symbolizing rejuvenation
› Can also express the dual
nature of the work of a
physician, who deals with
life and death, sickness
andhealth.
› Drugs = help or harm
› Pharmakon (ancient Greek
word for drug, medicine or
poison)
› Snake venom was even
prescribed for certain
conditions

50. I’m sorry….after extensive research, I have decided spiders don’t have souls.

52.  They simply bring
comfort by reminding
people that
goodness, kindness, an
d love still exist where
hatred and loss have
left their marks.

53.  Humans are likely not unique in their ability to inflict
cruelty for sport.
› Dolphins appear to kill porpoises for fun
› Killer whales are known to play with their food before eating it
› Cats will slaughter more birds than necessary for survival
› Cats tend to play with their prey before eating it and sometimes
don’t eat it at all
› Is this cruel behavior instinctual or simply
fun?

54.  René Descartes (1596-  A license for cruelty to
1650) was a French animals.
philosopher, mathemat › ie because man has
ician, scientist, and dominion over animals
writer. and animals aren’t
 "Father of Modern rational beings.
Philosophy”
 This is the “I
think, therefore I am”
guy Love the hair…

55.  “A man is truly ethical  O heavenly Father,
only when he obeys the protect and bless all
compulsion to help all life things that have breath:
which he is able to guard them from all evil
assist, and shrinks from and let them sleep in
injuring anything that peace.
lives."
 "Until he extends his
circle of compassion to
include all living
things, man will not
himself find peace."
 This guy had it right.

56.  Signs of higher mental
abilities:
› Good memory
› Grasp of grammar and
symbols
› Self awareness
› Understanding others’
motives
› Imitating others
› Creativity

57.  Irene Pepperberg (Harvard) studied Alex for 30
years before his recent death
 He could imitate >100 English words
 He created words for food he enjoyed…including
calling an apple a “banerry” because “apples
tasted a little bit like bananas to him, and they
look a little bit like cherries, so Alex made up a
word for them,” Pepperberg said.
 Alex and Griffin
 Einstein

58.  scrub jays know that other jays are  The bonobo Kanzi, for
thieves and that stashed food can instance, carries his symbol-
spoil communication board with him so
 sheep can recognize faces he can "talk" to his human
 chimpanzees use a variety of tools researchers, and he has invented
to probe termite mounds and even combinations of symbols to
use weapons to hunt small express his thoughts.
mammals Nevertheless, this is not the same
thing as having an animal look up
 dolphins can imitate human at you, open his mouth, and
postures speak.
 the archerfish, which stuns insects
with a sudden blast of water, can
learn how to aim its squirt simply
by watching an experienced fish
perform the task
 Kanzi
 Time…1.25

59.  Do some exceptional
animals have what
researchers call mental
flexibility?
 Chimpanzees certainly do.
In the wild, a chimpanzee
may use four sticks of
different sizes to extract the
honey from a bee's nest.
And in captivity, they can
figure out how to position
several boxes so they can
retrieve a banana hanging
from a rope.

60.  Who let the dawgs out...?

61.  Mark Bekoff (University of Colorado, Boulder)
has demonstrated in experiments that various
species have a sense of fairness and show
empathy.
 Recent neurology work has also revealed that
distantly related mammals such as whales and
dolphins have the same structures in their
brains that are thought to be responsible for
empathy in humans.

62.  Dolphins save Doberman Pinscher stranded on sandbar
 Updated: Wednesday, 02 Mar 2011, 11:09 AM EST
Published : Wednesday, 02 Mar 2011, 10:42 AM EST
 MARCO ISLAND, Fla. (Newscore) - A Pennsylvania woman on vacation in Florida took a tip from
two dolphins to save a lost Doberman Pinscher that got stranded on a sandbar.
 When Audrey D'Alessandro and her husband, Sam, walked out of their home on Marco
Island, near Naples, Fla., to go fishing, "we saw these two dolphins, and they were splashing and
making this big commotion" in a canal behind their vacation home, she said.
 Although it is not uncommon to see dolphins swimming through the canal on their way to the Gulf
of Mexico, Audrey D'Alessandro said that this time, "they were just there, in one place, splashing
water against the canal wall."
 When the D'Alessandros went to investigate, they saw that an 80-pound Doberman Pinscher was
standing on a sandbar, half-submerged even at low tide. The dog, which disappeared from a nearby
home some 12 hours before, was too weak to bark, she added, and could not get back onto land
because of a several-foot-high canal wall.
 By the time the nurse lowered herself into the canal to get onto the sandbar, the dutiful dolphins
were gone, but her husband called firefighters, who helped Audrey D'Alessandro hoist the dog out
of the water. Turbo, who was shaking and unable to stand after being rescued, was quickly reunited
with his owner -- who got the happy news while putting up lost-dog posters.
 A few days later, a thankful Turbo and his owner made the eight-block trip to visit the
D'Alessandros, who have a yellow Labrador of their own.
 But Audrey D'Alessandro brushed off the island-wide praise the couple received afterward, saying
that while "people pulled up to us when were driving and said, 'You're the couple that saved that
dog,' I said, 'Yeah, sure.' But I think it was really those dolphins.

63.  Animals grieve for one another…
 Wolf grieving

65.  Numbers 22
 She was a good donkey. She made good
choices, heroic choices, to endure pain for the
sake of her master’s life. Even under Cartesian
theology, that is clear evidence of a “soul” and
of a “spirit.”

67.  History is replete with similar stories of
animal heroism…dogs and other animals
giving their lives for humans – or even other
species. Some risk life and limb for
strangers, others for loved friends.

68. Mom and son
Thankfully
mother and child
are said to be
doing fine.

69.  In the excavation of  Firemen found a German
Pompeii, evidence was shepherd who died
found of a dog lying covering a toddler with
across a child; it’s body during a house
archeologists believe the fire. The child survived
dog was trying to protect with only minor injuries.
the child.

70.  Police K9 Sirius, Badge Number 17...a
four-and-a-half-year old, ninety
pound, easygoing, yellow Labrador
Retriever...was an Explosive Detection
Dog with the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey Police
Department.
 Sirius, along with his partner, Police
Officer David Lim, were assigned to
the World Trade Center in New
York, where their primary duty was to
check vehicles entering the
Complex, clear unattended bags and
sweep areas for VIP safety.
 Sirius, who began work at the World
Trade Center on July 4, 2000, was the
only police dog to perish during the
attack on the Twin Towers.

71.  Anyone who has ever shared a home with a pet
knows: animals display a variety of
emotions, including
joy, fear, anger, pain, love, grief and despair.
Jane Goodall is quoted as saying that
“scientists who use animals to study the
human brain, then deny that animals have
feelings, are illogical.”

72. M. Jean Holmes (Do Dogs go to Heaven?
Eternal Answers for Animal Lovers)
 “Most animals are good – just like people. Some
are good because it’s as natural to them as
breathing. I’ve seen animals suffer unspeakable
cruelty and still offer love and forgiveness to the
person hurting them. Animals often love people
as Mother Theresa loved – without prejudice and
without being repelled by a person’s condition.
Such animals don’t care if you are
unwashed, covered with putrid sores, or dying.
They still give love. If there’s a heaven for such
saints as Mother Theresa, surely God has rewards
in eternity for loving animals.”

73.  But ask the animals, and they will teach
you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell
you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach
you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know that the
hand of the lord has done this? In his hand is
the life of every creature and the breath of all
mankind.

74.  Human beings look
beyond the clouds to the
stars and distant planets
for answers to questions
about God and life. Yet at
our feet, in the branches
of our trees, in our rivers
and oceans, on our
laps, and at our back
doors, the eyes of kindred
spirits watch and wait for
us to recognize God’s gifts
and blessings.