Religious leaders sign document urging compassion to animals

Published: 2007-11-08

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Religious leaders gathered in Washington Nov. 7 to sign a document urging people of faith to make compassion to animals an integral part of their religious teachings. The document, "A Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion," says in part that animals "have intrinsic value as part of God's creation and are entitled to live lives free of cruelty and exploitation." The gathering took place in a caucus room on Capitol Hill and was hosted by Best Friends Animal Society, a Utah-based organization that runs one of the nation's largest sanctuaries for abused and abandoned animals. The document was signed by members of at least 20 faith traditions, including Catholic, Baptist, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Quaker representatives. They called on people of faith to stop wearing fur, reduce meat consumption and buy only from farms that use humane methods, as opposed to practices such as confining chickens in small cages and raising livestock in factory farms.

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