Guest Contributors

From time to time guest writers will post their views on this blog. Today I am happy to welcome Reverend Jim Hanratty who has contributed his expertise regarding spiritulity and animals.

Christianity & the Humane Treatment of Animals-Guest Contributor Reverand James Hanratty

Did you know God made provision for the animals upon the earth?

Let take a look into God's Word and read a little of what the Bible tells us about how God shows kindness for his animal creation:

• Look at the birds flying around . . . your Father in heaven takes care of them, he gives animals their food and feeds the young ravens when they call.

• He sends the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.They give drink to every beast of the field.

• By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle...
The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.

Did you know that Jesus identified Himself with all the innocent animals who had been sacrificed and declared that His was the final sacrifice?

In fact, Jesus is even described as "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)

Additionally, Jesus is called "The Lion of the tribe of Judah" and it is interesting to notice that He was born in a stable among animals rather than in an inn. He rode a donkey in triumph into Jerusalem on that great day of the feast. He is prophesied to return again in glory as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, riding on a white horse (Revelation 19:11).

Also, the Holy Spirit is symbolized by a dove.(John 1:32) He chose to reveal Himself as like a pure and gentle bird (Matthew 3:16) at Jesus' baptism.

It's so sad but did you know millions of wild animals die painful, lingering deaths in vicious traps every year? Not for food - for furs! Millions more are bred on fur farms and slaughtered for fashion.

The beauty industry inflicts untold agony on a million animals every single year for perfumes, lipsticks and other cosmetics. There are more than adequate synthetic alternatives, but such is man's sinful inhumanity towards God's animal kingdom and the slaughter continues today.

In the name of science, millions more animals suffer in laboratories worldwide every year. In the first chapter of the Bible, God made humankind responsible for His animals (Genesis 1-28). All animals are God's animals (Psalm 50:10) and we are answerable to God for our treatment, care and protection of them.

Let's never forget that the welfare and protection of animals is an essential part of our Christian responsibility. All caring Christians should make known their opposition to such cruel practices as vivisection. We must determine to do all in our power to bring about the speedy abolition of all such mistreatment and tortures of animals.
God promised Believers he would give them a tender heart...

"And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart." (Ezekiel 36:26 NLT)

So as Christians who want to love and please God let's be tender hearted and share your love with these animals God expects us to care for them as we share life on this earth with them.

Not a Christian?

Did you know that Jesus abolished animal sacrifices and so Christianity has always rejected the need for blood shed of animals. (Hebrews 9:12, 26).

It is only mankind who needs forgiving and saving, and also teaching as to how to worship (Psalm 36 & 51), the animal kingdom worships God continually and naturally.

You know, most of us imagine that in God’s eyes we are just one of millions of people upon the earth. We imagine most people don’t really seem to think we are important and so we assume God thinks of us in a similar way. But then, again, God is not like ‘most people.’ We feel that God has favorites and we vision we’re a far way down the list, but the way we feeling do not correspond to reality. To God, YOU are very special to him.

God loves you with his whole heart. He loves you with every speck of his enormous love. That means no matter how much he loves others, he couldn’t possibly love anyone else more than he loves you.

Scripture makes no promise that you will always feel loved, nor that circumstances will always make it obvious that you are loved. God simply promises that you are loved. No suffering or tragedy will ever separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:35-39). A snap-shot in time proves nothing. Only eternity’s movies can adequately portray the infinitude of God’s love for you.

That's the good new and now for the bad news...

The Bible tell us the punishment for sinning again our Holy God....is death. This means because of our sinning we have earned eternal death and that we deserve to die and be separated from God forever.

"For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23)

BUT... since there was no way we could make our self right with God...Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) The Bible says Christ took the punishment that we deserved for our sins. Placed it upon Himself, and died in out place. He was buried, and three days later he rose from the dead to offer us eternal life as a free gift.

There is only one way of salvation today for mankind and that is through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ - the Lamb of God who died to redeem sinful mankind (Revelation 5:12, 13). He died with the result that no other animals need die . . . for man's sinfulness.

What is your response to Christ? Would you like to place your trust in Jesus right now? It if you place your trust in Christ, why not say a short prayer with me right now and we will thank God for having saved you and given you the gift of eternal life.

"Dear God....I believe Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead. I have trusted Christ alone as my savior. Thank you for your forgiveness and everlasting life that I now have.

In Jesus' name, amen."

If you would like to discuss this article or if you are seeking spiritual direction you can leave a comment for Reverend Hanratty in the comment section.

Click to see a movie of our babies that are now wild & free.

From Movies

Wildlife Center Benifits From Amazon.com Book Sales

Many years ago when I was the only wild bird rehabilitator in my county, I struggled to provide for the hundreds of orphaned & injured birds that were brought to me. Most rescuers do not think about the expense involved in wildlife rehabilitation. There are special formulas to be purchased for each species, monthly shipments of mealworms for the birds, and other nutritious foods they must have.

While my husband built an incredible song bird aviary with funds out of our family budget. I knew we just could not afford to build the outdoor enclosures we would need to fulfill our goal of helping orphaned mammals as well. We had begun taking in orphaned squirrels, opossums, and rabbits but had to transfer them to another rehabber to prepare them for a life in the wild.

But then my brother Jim, an Amazon.com book-seller donated 4,000 books. When my husband Jesse came home with a pickup and trailer full of books we began the process of starting our Fund4Wildlife bookstore on Amazon.com and more recently on Bonanzle.com

Since that time, Jesse & I go to book sales all over the state to keep our inventory high. We frequent estate sales, garage sales and anywhere we may find books! Oh, how I would love to be like Better World Books and have books donated in Kiosks.

But, I recently received a portable heated pet bed that stays warm for 16 hours so taking our babies will be much less of on ordeal.

The photos above show the squirrel enclosure we were able to have built using our Amazon bookselling funds. There are three large enclosures in the door going into the main enclosure and exceed state requirements. Now, we are fundraising for a room to house our infants, since human children now occupy the space that I had my four legged babies in.

To Rescue or Not to Rescue?

Baby animals have the best chance at survival if they remain with their mothers and often the mom knows exactly where they have tucked their youngsters-- and will come back. Finding a baby out on its own doesn't necessarily mean it needs human intervention. I will discuss some tips to help you decide to rescue or not to rescue.

Contrary to popular belief parent animals will respond to distress cries and return to their young. It is a myth that they abandon their young if touched by human hands.

Never remove a baby from where you found it without determining whether or not it really needs help. A healthy baby will have a glossy coat, round, bright eyes and a healthy sense of self-preservation and may try to get away from you.

Exception: Pink, hairless babies with eyes closed are in grave danger if they are separated from their mothers for even a short time.

Is it snuggled in a hole in the ground, or hidden under a bush? Mom may be nearby.
Is the mother bird flying at you or do you hear a mammal making threatening sounds from a distance. She is saying I am here-leave my baby alone!
Is there a tree nearby from which it could have fallen? You can put a baby back in the nest or if perching, on a tree limb.
Is it obviously injured? Can you see blood, puncture wounds or a broken bone? Are there flies around it? Does it seem weak or unable to use its legs? Then you need to intervene and get it to a wildlife rehabber in your area.

Baby birds on the ground with most of their feathers and a short tail are fledglings learning to fly; you should leave it on the ground.
You must place a nestling (no feathers, eyes shut) gently back in a visible nest.

A tiny bunny with eyes still closed will die without mothers milk. Unless you KNOW for sure mom is dead!! ( you see the body or your dog killed it-LEAVE THEM THERE! Older bunnies can be placed back in their ground nests and covered with grass or other greenery. You will NEVER see a mother rabbit with her babies

Raccoons pups are almost never far away from their mothers, but the mothers will wait for you to leave before they approach.

If the animal is truly orphaned or injured call a wildlife rehabilitator. Place the baby in a container, lined with soft cloth, tissues or paper towels. Try to avoid any kind of terry cloth, as toenails can be caught in its loops. Cover the baby with cloth and put the covered (but not sealed) container poked with holes for ventilation and place in a dark, quiet, warm place away from children and pets.

If you have a heating pad, set it to low and place the container halfway on the pad.
If the baby needs help call a wildlife rehabilitator. Next, place the baby into a container, lined with soft cloth, tissues or paper towels. Try to avoid any kind of terry cloth, as toenails can be caught in its loops. Cover the baby with cloth and put the covered (but not sealed) container poked with holes for ventilation and place in a dark, quiet, warm place away from children and pets.

Do not give the baby anything to eat or drink unless instructed to do so by your wildlife rehabilitator.

A fast way to find a rehabber in your town is to Google “ wildlife rehabilitator+your towns name”or call your local humane society or vet for a referral.

A rescuer called us that their dog killed this bunnies mom and sibling-in cases like this always bring in the baby & seek help:

Rehab:The Good -The Bad - The Ugly

The caller was a volunteer at a humane society in a nearby county. She is dedicated and has loving heart for  the animals and is willing to drive over forty minutes to get the wildlife out of her animal shelter and to me. With so many puppies, kittens and abandoned pets in animal shelters they are not set up to care for high needs of orphaned baby animals. They simply don’t have the staff , volunteers, or supplies they need to handle everything. So when she said she had an infant squirrel that had been in the animal shelter for days, I instantly had a flashback to the horrid conditions many of them have arrived in when held there. 

When she arrived, my expectations were correct. In the box I found a  baby squirrel too young to eat on her own. Her fur in milk and dried banana that they had placed in her box. Her eyes were small slits from dehydration and her body was chilled. I knew she was in the fight for her very life. 

Her new box was warm from the heating pad I had placed under it while waiting for her to arrive. 

I had to get her body temperature to normalize  before I began hydration. But she just would not warm up. So I took a tube sock and filled it with rice, microwaved it until warm and snuggled her little body around the sock. Minutes later, she was warming up. A few more minutes with her belly on top of the warm sock we were ready to start the slow reversing the dehydration with Pedialyte. 

I wrapped her in the warm sock to retain her body heat and drop by drop got 3cc of fluid down her. I repeated this all afternoon until I went to bed that night. Her eyes seem brighter, she loved to drink the pedialyte. She clutched the syringe with her little paws when I took it away from her to refill it. I gave her as much as she wanted until she feel asleep and would take no more. 

I found her in the early morning far from her warm sock on the corner of her tub barely breathing. I took the sock to the microwave to warm it but when I got back she was dead. 

Despite all these years of doing rehab I don’t get used to it. It hurts. 

Amazon Angels

AMAZON ANGELS                 Friday, April 9, 2010

So today the UPS guy pulls up carrying a large box. It’s always  fun to guess what he may be bringing. After all, who doesn’t love a surprise?

I felt a rush of joy When I pried the box open and saw the two huge tubs of formulas for our baby mammals. With spring - baby season to  wildlife rehabbers- upon us the expense of filling countless little tummies began looming heavily on me.  With most of the expenses for formulas, foods, medicines  coming out of my families personal funds and my husband now unemployed for nearly a year, I believed God would provide. His faithfulness to provide for the babies is never failing. It always feeling like an affirmation that I am doing just what he has called me to do. 

The two Amazon angels are people who don’t even know me, live far from Texas, and happen to buy  something from my Amazon bookstore. Each then emailed to ask what our babies may need.  Each sent the formulas we so desperately need.

So Kim and Sue bless you!

Behold the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet God in heaven feeds them. - Matthew 6:26

From Babies to Online Bookselling

This is day one of my blog.  So many of my Amazon buyers have asked to be kept up to date with what is happening with our wildlife rescue. So I set up a facebook page and a blog  so everyone can see the babies as they come in and some of those that have been released. All of this is new to me & is a work in progress. 

Feel free to email if you need help with on orphaned animal. This is the fastest way to reach me. Well, off to finish the facebook page.

Blessings,

Mary