Is it Christianly to drown cats?

Question:

Please explain to me which are the limits of the commandment ”Do not kill” Is it allowed to kill flies or to drown cats?

 

The commandment “Do not kill” is a part of Decalogue ( 10 commandments) and it is with reference to human life. There are many other texts from the Bible which explain this commandment. Thus in chepter 9 of book Genesis there are described new settlments which God made after the flood. Then God said:

 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them,”Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earh. The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the Earth and on very bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.” (Genesis 9:1-6)

This text explain very well the difference between the life of an animal and a life of a man. After the flood God gave all the animal world, well, all that move and have live should be as food for men. Eating animal and bird meat involves their killing, and, as you see, it is not qualified as a sin, but it is a trim made by God. But in contrast with animals life, it is huma’s life and it is written that God puts high value on the life of each human and He wants us to put the same value, because man is made by God on His image. We can not say the same about animals – they were made after their kind.

All the plant and animal worls was created to serve man. When it is out of control and is a danger for people, people have the right to reduce their number. If people do not understand the Word of God, they value more life of animals than the life of man, as it was in the case of strays in Bucharest, after one dog torn a child.

But, I need to mention that many times people treated God’s creation without responsability. Thus, we came to the point that in Moldova we do not see deer or wild animals because they all were killed. I was very surprised in USA, when I was in the State Mississipi, to find out that deer population exceeds the population of people. And all they can live well. One morning, the house owners woke me up to see how in orchard deer were eating apples fallen from the trees. I was surprised to see that they were not afraid of the owners, especially after the night before we were eating deer meat hunted by him. He has told me that he hunts only during the period of huntin and that he never hunts near the house, but goes far away in forest. So the deer know that they can come near the house and nobody will hurt them.

As for the flies, it is obvious that there is no other way to get rid of them exept by exterminating them. But when we talk about cats, I would advice you to look for people who want to have them in their houses. I also like cats, but not so much that to keep them in our house. But they like us more than we like them.Many cats from the street come and play in our yard. Last summer one cat gave birth in a small box where we keep the tools. I was sorry for it and its cats, so I let her to grow up the cats., but I was planning to give them to others. They played when they were small and we enjoyed to see them playing and one day thay left as though someone would have told them about my intentions. However, with the cats which gather in our yard, we use to give them to others who want to have them. We,however, have a cat who has earned the right to live with us, as he impresed  how much he has joined our family. When the first I wanted to take him away from our house, I caught him and put in a cardboard box. He stayed in silence until he felt I am going to take him away. Than he tryed to get out from the box and because I tryed to catch him he has scratched me. Yet, I took him away from our house, but, after a while he came back and this is what impresed us very much. So, we decided to let him live with us if he likes us so much.

As long as animals do not hurt us or other people, we should live them alone. But if we do not need them arround our houses, let give them to people who need them. I the Scripture it is written that the rightous has mercy on cattle, but the wicked heart is ruthlessly

And let me tell you another case which happened to one of  my friend’s father. He warked as a guard at a factory and he used to get drunk. There was a stray dog there. One day, this guard was drunk and got asleep in the guard house. He, being drunk, did not fell nothing, but the dog untied himself, he entered the house and he made a fantastic effort to pull out the guard who was drunk. The man woke up after he was carried in the yard and the firemen came. When he found out that he was alive, took the dog home and treated very carefully for what he did.

 May God give us discernment in all respects and to manage with wisdom God’s creation over what God put us as an owner.