Kindness to Animals: The Bahá’í Faith and Animals
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 374
Living in Unity with all
It is not only their fellow human beings that the beloved of God must treat with mercy and compassion.
Instead, must they show forth the utmost loving-kindness to every living creature.
For in all physical respects, and where the animal spirit is concerned, the self-same feelings are shared by animal and man. The feelings are one and the same, whether ye inflict pain on man or on the beast.
There is no difference here whatever. And indeed, ye do worse to harm an animal, for man hath a language, he can lodge a complaint, he can cry out and moan; if injured he can have recourse to the authorities, and these will protect him from his aggressor. But the hapless beast is mute, able neither to express its hurt nor take its case to the authorities.
Therefore, it is essential that ye show forth the utmost consideration to the animal, and that ye be even kinder to him than to your fellow man. Train your children from their earliest days to be infinitely tender and loving to animals.
If an animal is sick, let them try to heal it, if it is hungry, let them feed it, if thirsty, let them quench its thirst, if weary, let them see that it rests.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 159
Man is generally sinful, and the animal is innocent; unquestionably one must be kinder and more merciful to the innocent. The harmful animals, such as the bloodthirsty wolf, the poisonous snake, and other injurious animals are exceptions because mercy towards these is cruelty to man and other animals. For instance, if you show kindness to a wolf this becomes a tyranny to the sheep, for it may destroy an entire flock of sheep. If you give the opportunity to a mad dog it may be the cause of the destruction of a thousand animals and men. Therefore, sympathy to the ferocious animal is cruelty to the peaceful animal, so they should be done away with. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 374