All creatures are deserving of Christ-like compassion

I was happily eating my supper one day in the presbytery dining room, tucking in to a plate of roast beef with all the trimmings.  At the same time, one of my dogs was seated on my lap.  This little dog, a black Cockapoo named Pepe, is the joy and delight of my life!  He is always with me, snuggling under my desk even now, as I write this piece.  He brings so much happiness and laughter and healing and hope into the world.  He has truly helped me to be a more generous, more understanding, kinder Christian.  He is also popular with parishioners and fellow clergy, and we are inseparable.

Reflecting on my affection and fondness for Pepe, while consuming my food, I suddenly had a challenging thought, “What about the cow on my plate?”  “Is it OK to shower Pepe with love, affection, and a comfortable lifestyle, while also unthinkingly (and financially) supporting the meat industry?  Why is it OK”, I began to reflect, “for Pepe to receive every manner of kindness and indulgence, but for this poor cow to be raised on a factory farm, treated with indignity and violence, taken to the slaughterhouse, and rendered as no more than a source of protein?  Did not the cow also have a desire to live?  And have feelings too, like Pepe?” I knew that to see Pepe afraid was extremely upsetting for me.  Was that cow not also deserving of such concern?

From that moment, I made a conscious, immediate decision not to eat meat, not to support the meat industry, and to do all that I could to end animal suffering.  Avoiding all dairy products was merely a logical step and came at the same time.  I literally became vegan overnight and have never looked back.  Likewise, I cannot bear seeing animals used for sport, entertainment, or experimental testing.  It’s all so unnecessary. 

In terms of my faith, I am aware that animals are, like me, created by God himself.  If we take the Catholic view that humans are gifted with dominion and stewardship of the planet, then I must ask myself the question, “If we really are the noble species, how is it that we treat all other species as commodities with which we can do what we like?” I do not see compassion and love towards our animal neighbours in the way that we raise them for food — especially when we can live completely and perfectly healthily on a fully plant-based diet.  It is not ethically the same thing to kill a living, sentient being for food, or to eat a handful of beans.

My book, Animals in Heaven? A Catholic Pastoral Response to Questions about Animals (Wipf & Stock, 2024), attempts to help regular parishioners consider their relationship with animals and to make informed decisions, rather than simply to do what they’ve always done.  Obviously, it is very compatible to live a Catholic life as a vegan and to live a vegan life as a Catholic.  In fact, I might suggest that it is the most authentic way of all. 

Fr Terry Martin

The Catholic Diocese of Arundel & Brighton, United Kingdom