Pray not for your pet, pray that your pet does not bite you:

"The dog bite epidemic: a primer

The number of dogs

There currently are 74.8 million dogs in the USA. (American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) 2007-2008 National Pet Owners Survey.)

The number of victims

A survey by the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta ("CDC") concluded that dogs bite nearly 2% of the U.S. population -- more than 4.7 million people annually. (Sacks JJ, Kresnow M, Houston B. Dog bites: how big a problem? Injury Prev 1996;2:52-4.)

Almost 800,000 bites per year -- one out of every 6 -- are serious enough to require medical attention. (Weiss HB, Friedman D, Coben JH. Incidence of dog bite injuries treated in emergency departments. JAMA 1998;279:51-53.)

Dog bites send nearly 368,000 victims to hospital emergency departments per year (1,008 per day). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nonfatal Dog Bite–Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments — United States, 2001, MMWR 2003;52:605-610. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report is published by the CDC.

16,476 dog bites to persons aged 16 years or greater were work related in 2001. (Ibid., Nonfatal Dog Bite–Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments — United States, 2001, MMWR 2003;52:608.

Every year 2,851 letter carriers are bitten. (US Postal Service.)

Getting bitten by a dog is the fifth most frequent cause of visits to emergency rooms caused by activities common among children. (See Weiss HB, Friedman DI, Coben JH. Incidence of dog bite injuries treated in emergency departments, JAMA 1998;279:53; also see US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Injuries associated with selected sports and recreational equipment treated in hospital emergency departments, calendar year 1994. Consumer Product Safety Review, Summer 1996;1:5.) Note that this comparison is limited to activities that children more or less voluntarily engage in, such as playing sports, playing with animals, etc. Dog bite injuries are not specifically set forth in Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, Child Injury and Mortality, pp. 36, 37, 136 and 137, which states that the leading causes of emergency room visits overall are falls, being struck by or against an object, natural or environmental causes, poisening, being cut or pierced, and motor vehicle accident.

An American has a one in 50 chance of being bitten by a dog each year. (CDC.) "

Why wouldn't we pray for our pets? The Word says that a sparrow does not fall to the ground without the Lord knowing about it. In Philippians 4:6 it says, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

The other night my young cat seemed to be having a seizure of sorts. I began to pray earnestly for him and he began to settle down. Found out that he had gotten into the catnip and must have OD'd on it. Ha,ha. I'm sure he would have gotten over it just fine without my prayers, but I will always pray for anything and everything that is a concern, or is dear to me. God is sooooo Good! Thank you, Jesus!

I did not want to let my cat go when she was obviously dying, looked into the possibility of a feeding tube. The vet talked me out of that.

Chloe could have been 13 years old, based on the length of her whiskers. It is wierd. My usual vet and I thought she was much younger.

I did learn how to let a pet go when it was her time....

One of my cats was recently very ill, and had to be admitted to a specialist hospital. Husband and I prayed to our various deities over the little guy in addition to the vet's good work. Our cat is now doing much better. Did the prayers work or did the medicine? The medicine and the vet's knowledge, obviously, were what brought him back to health. But I'm sure that the prayers didn't hurt anything, either.

And yes, I do believe that animals have souls, and that we are connected to all life on Earth. We don't have "dominion" over the animals - we are part of the complex web of life.

Hey, CCNL1, it wasn't funny the first three times you posted, so why not post it, oh maybe a dozen more times or so?

You're hilarious. Just hilarious. And so clever, too! Who else would make the connection between dogs, cats, and Asian food? What a clever little boy you must be.

Animals do not sin. They have no need of our prayers. It is we who need theirs.

"would agree that there should be certain standards for humane treatment of animals"

I meant to say "treatment of meat animals" in that context, although I also support standards for non-meat animals as well.

"The Chinaman reached into the cage and dragged the cats out screaming and yelping"

Is the point of your story that it's wrong to eat animals killed that way, or wrong to eat cats at all? If it's the former, what is your stance regarding steamed crabs? I would agree that there should be certain standards for humane treatment of animals, partly because that treatment often makes the meat healthier to eat.

And if it's the latter, I would say that the distinction between meat animals and pet animals is arbitrary and subjective, driven by cultural assumptions. Americans who criticize Chinese or Koreans for eating cats and dogs are being ethnocentric, and the same is true of Hindus in India who condemn Westerners for eating beef. It would be worthwhile to look at both situations from a culture-neutral perspective.

A dozen years ago while traveling in Cambodia I ran into a couple of English ladies who had spent several weeks in China and were still fuming at the ill-treatment of animals in that country.
In a market they had seen two scrawny cats in a small rusty cage and thought about buying them to take back to their digs to feed them up and maybe find a home for them.
They asked the nearby Chinaman whether the cats were for sale and he said "Yes. Cat one dollar - two cat two dollar".
That's cheap enough they said and decided to buy them both. The Chinaman reached into the cage and dragged the cats out screaming and yelping - turned around dropped them into a vat of boiling oil and said "How you want your cat - with rice or with noodles?"

Hmmm, "God created the wild creatures of the world, gave dominion over them to man."???

Actually all of Genesis is myth. See http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E1EFE35540C7A8CDDAA0894DA404482

See also the wise words of Rabbi David Wolpe, an On Faith panelist, over at the www.beliefnet.com site.

Hey Rick Hamlin, do you normally write such dribble?

Do you believe in angels too?

Loser.

I think my cat is even more an atheist than I am. Although I haven't asked.

"God created the wild creatures of the world, gave dominion over them to man."

There is no basis for the claim made in Genesis. The claim itself is morally faulty because it's not grounded in any principles of help or harm - it amounts to "Because I said so." The right approach is this - how should one treat animals to avoid causing unnecessary suffering to them or to us? Two intelligent people can use the same principle and come up with different answers to that question.

"these two dumb animals"

Animals are not inherently dumber than humans - that's merely a subjective value judgment driven by human hubris. A neutral conclusion would be that humans and animals have different types of intelligence, and these are often not comparable.

"God created the wild creatures of the world, gave dominion over them to man...What we pray is a prayer of thanksgiving that we have been entrusted with the care of these two dumb animals..."

The dumbest animals of all are human beings infused with a superiority complex.

"If there are no dogs in heaven, I want to go where they went." Will Rogers

Better still, pray for the elephant in the basilica, hiding pedophile priests from civil justice.

All dogs go to heaven so save your prayers for intolerant Republican Huckabees instead.

Reminds me of my millionaire friend who went to her priest to get her cats baptized. He refused and referred her to the Buddhist Church. I volunteer to put them in a burlap bag and "baptize" them in the Potomac for her.
Foolish move because she left all her money to her cats. I could have been the executor.

http://www.callahanonline.com/images/wokdog.gif

Let's wok the dog

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Bottom line: The Koreans got it right. Dog meat is delicious!!
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Some humorous comments here. I've always believed that animals were created before humans and they did not deprive themselves of the Garden of Eden as humans did.

Yeah, I pray for my pets. Don't expect them to get anything special but they are God's creations too.

If I can't see my dogs in the afterlife, I'm not going.

The Washington Post must be desperate to
increase readership. Who dreams up such claptrap?

Pray for my pets? No, but I love them; care for them; cry for them when they get to a stage when living ceases to be meaningful, and take them to the vet to put them out of misery.

I would do the same for people I love. I hope that they,too, would honor my wishes
if I should happen to be in a situation when I am unable to act myself.

With the religious conservatives (mostly Republicans) one never knows what they will do if given the power to rule over such entirely personal decisions.

I do pray for my Jack, whom I have daily held in my hands since the day of his birth: "May the Great Cat receive you unto her bosom one day, as Your Mother once received you unto hers."
Call me an eighty-year old fool.
Hal Cheney

I'll drop the sarcasm for a change to ask a question.

Do animals love?

My female cat lost her mate after 10 yrs.
Since the loss, she keeps to herself and is hostile to the other cat. It's been 3 years and no difference.

reminds me of a couple people, I know.

No, seriously, God gives us blessings and what we need. If we lack for human companions, we can adopt four-legged companions who are eager for two-legged hosts.

The problem is cats and dogs are so prolific, even if we spay and neuter all our adult pets, the puppies and kittens people abandon or run away will grow up and proliferate. And people by no means always spay and neuter their pets, and frequently abandon their pets in the wild. My last cat was a "feral" cat who must have had some time with humans, maybe as a kitten. She and her last litter were trapped, spayed and neutered, and adopted out by a north Arlington rescue organization, Metro Ferals.

Chloe lived 5 1/2 years in my custody until she stopped eating. I had to euthanize her at Alexandria Animal Hospital, as the emergency was beyond Caring Hands Animal Hospital's abilities. I had never had a pet before run up such a vet bill. Next time I am considering pet insurance advertised at Giant Food.

I also look forward to ultimately living with an adult female, this time within the human species.

I know people treat animals as co-equals with people. I don't take that seriously, that my pets will go to Heaven. If I did, I would not have had my last cat microchipped with Home Again. The beast would have the Mark of the Beast and she'd forfeit her salvation.

The beast marked me a few times too.

"Oh no! You've got the mark of the beast!"
"Relax. It's where Kitty scratched me last night."

:-)

(No really,) with the 666 in my phone number I wondered if the number was hers and not mine. I guess every feline needs to make a few "cat calls" now and then, right?

:-)

Good Grief! Praying for a pet has to be as useful as praying for a human

pgr88,

Even if you don't believe in God, or despise religion, the theology of Christianity is perhaps the most impressive achievement if all of western philosophy. Like it or not, nearly all of the ethics that comprise secular humanism are first sytematically considered by Christian thinkers. The germs of scientific method, inductive and deductive reasoning are found there.

And yet here we are talking about praying for pets.

I have the split personality of both a secular humanist and an orthodox Catholic, and this idea is idiotic to both of them.

No, all of the Post's coverage seems to play up to those who desise or trivialize religion, because no topic seems to rise above the level of sophistication of a 4th grade Sunday school class (where, incidentally, a nun explained to me that in no uncertain terms does God give a rat's @ss about our pets), which is the average level of intellect for most people on most topics.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Does anyone else believe that the unstated purpose of this "On Faith" column is to trivialize Christianity to an absurd extreme?
Pray for pets? Does Jesus support a single-payer health-care system? These are some of the gems we have seen recently.

I once saw a western, a movie, where an indian man told a white man that: we are their gods. He was of course referring to the dogs that lived with them.

It kind of reminds me of the relationship most believers seem to have with their gods.

captn_ahab is correct. However, it's western religion itself that is a worn out medieval paradigm. Western religion and its dogmatic man-made rules and systems designed to be the middleman between humans and god. What should be important is one getting in touch with one's spirituality - as in eastern philosophies. Ah yes - western religion - the ones who gave us "missionary work" to convert those who are happy and at peace with their environment - taking from the land only what they need to survive... They are the ones who need to be converted... sure...

Why limit magical thinking to our fellow humans?

Why not extend magical thinking to animals?

Perhaps we should begin thinking about prayer in more metapysical and sophisticated terms, rather than using well worn Medieval paradigms....

Evolution notwithstanding, God created the wild creatures of the world, gave dominion over them to man, and even waited with anticipation to see what Adam would name each. Our purebred miniature poodle and our "Heinz-57" mutt are loving, friendly, gentle companions in our lives. Both are trusting of us, and offer unconditional love and affection, forgiving our errors and omissions, and greeting us each day as though we were the prodigal sons and daughters at homecoming. And if we let ourselves be lessoned thus, we learn that they don't lie, cheat, steal, conspire, and murder. What we pray is a prayer of thanksgiving that we have been entrusted with the care of these two dumb animals, who illuminate our lives with joy, and that we may be found worthy of the genuine love we receive from both. We and our children regard these two -- Sophie and Pepper -- as members of our family, as indeed they are. Our lives would be diminished significantly without them.

Mr. Hamlin, a more relevant column might be about hypocritical conservatives who claim to be suuuuuuch devout, god-fearin' Christians who completely ignore Jesus' teachings re: the poor and less well-to-do and instead act incredibly selfish... even taking hostile positions towards those who aren't nearly as wealthy. And couple that with the demented conservative position on "guns and god" and explore their perversion of Jesus' teachings and the good book...

THAT'S AN IMPORTANT COLUMN TO WRITE ONE DAY. DON'T YOU AGREE, MR. HAMLIN?

"I have never heard of a concept so obscene, or so contemptuous of any possible God."

While I see your point with the former, I don't understand the latter. Are you saying that "any possible God" has to place human suffering above animal suffering? I'm not arguing the opposite, I simply want to know what you see as possible or impossible about gods.

"I don't pretend to understand why God allows suffering and pain in this world"

And why assume that if gods exist, they have any role in the world's suffering and pain? What theologians call the Problem of Evil is based in certain assumptions about gods, and if these assumptions are taken away then the problem collapses. The theologians don't consider alternatives - gods may oppose suffering but have no power to prevent it; gods may want humans (and animals) to suffer for whatever reason; gods may be indifferent to suffering; or gods may not even be aware that the suffering is happening.

Does anyone else believe that the unstated purpose of this "On Faith" column is to trivialize Christianity to an absurd extreme?

Pray for pets? Does Jesus support a single-payer health-care system? These are some of the gems we have seen recently.

I prayed for my Chia Pet - - and it grew grass! So - there's something to be said for praying!

Animals and other creatures of the planet are a mirror on one's own moral condition. If you are cruel and uncaring to them, and uninterested in their feelings, then you are that way to humans, and therefore morally deficient. Animals also pose a challenge to our naive fixed ideas about our place in the universe because science has clearly shown that we are related to them, that they are in some fashion our family, so denying that fact or denying that we ought to apply compassionate treatment in our dealing with them again shows whether we are morally deficient ourselves.

And finally, those of us who own pets who are very similar to our own makeup (cats, dogs, etc., rather than reptiles or fish) show a remarkable ability to behave in ways we consider "moral", regardless of their limited ability to communicate or interact with us. Few predators engage in predation or hurt other creatures if hunger does not drive them to it. Again, those facts hold a mirror up to our own moral state and all too often shows us as wanting...

If you assume your pet has a soul and is therefore worth a certain amount of respect and dignity...isn't it a bit presumptuous to assume your pet is religious, is a member of your faith, or wishes you to pray for it?

Just throwing that out there as food for thought.

trh123, I don't pretend to understand why God allows suffering and pain in this world, but that does that mean that dogs and cats are somehow beneath his compassion?

When I am fed up with the callousness of humans, it is my dogs that help me to remember unconditional love. I am sorry for your loss, but I don't think that praying to God for the health of my dogs is in any way obscene.

Cats and kittens as the special of the day?? That is hilarious!!! Of course, MSG brings out a number of special flavors!! LOL

Our vet's office used to be right next door to a Chinese restaurant. I used to tell my cats that if they didn't behave, they'd become the special of the day. :D

God has permitted a thousand acts of genocide, including the Holocaust, AND killed my daughter with cancer, but he is available to intervene for your dog or my cat? I have never heard of a concept so obscene, or so contempteous of any possible God..

Mr. Hamlin, I've enjoyed your writing for years. Thank you for this thoughtful article on animals and how their love, beauty and companionship enrich our lives.

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The more Christian way would be to send your dogs to North Korea where dog meat serves as substantial protein for a hungry country.

Cats too??
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Cats were valuable to the ancient Egyptians, because they kept the vermin away from the large grainaries. They were so valuable that they created a cat-headed Goddess, Bastet, to represent fertility and plenty. Her counterpart, the lioness-headed Goddess Sekhmet, symbolized the barrenness of the desert.

Of course, cats have never forgotten that the ancient Egyptians viewed them as Gods. They continue to expect the same treatment to this day. :D

ALL 'Living' things/Creatures from; Spider to Tarantulla, from Cat to Lion, Chijuajua to Wolf from planktin to whales. mouse to elephant... DECAY. Yet WE + They are ALL part of the whole Prophecy/SYSTEM.

Note: i [WE] hath a Hamster called, "Mighty-Mouse" that have certain inteli behaviours and she makes us laugh.

Secret: "Lonliness" is the motive apperandi of why WE [i] Appear today. WHEREFORE:

Because "IT" [G-D] "iTSELF" did not want to be Lonely, And so, via "IT"s very own, "LET THERE BE" [PHOTONS] command that, suddenly We art ALL miraculously & majically & MEMEtically but Blessethly are in this beautiful "ETERNITY AVOIDING LONLINESS" Phenomena/ON thing together, forever, along with Ye/our Pets (Noah's Arch story or not) on S.pace-S.ship Earths of ManyManyMany and

WE r' in a Holyi Cosmic Motion [Blessing] via "IT"s 'TIME' [HOLYi 'TEMPerature' not clocks-time] realm!. And So,

ALL the Annimates (Us, Pets, entities) & the Inanimates (pet-rocks?, Objects) are for our AWARENESS, EXPERIENCE, ENJOYMENT, SANITY & SURVIVAL (Protein, Calories..)!

For Us 'HUe{MATES' PETS are like "LIVING-SYMBOLS" & CROSS's are "RELIGIOUS-SYMBOLS" so Praying for, or via both Symbolically, does not & will never Change ones state of REALITY (Disease, Cancer, Decay..), be it a HUMAN or their PET.

Hay; A good name for a animal business would be "PETS-R-FOR-US!" or is it US FOR THEM?.

The more Christian way is to send your dogs to North Korea where dog meat serves as substantial protein for a hungry country.

Cats too??

The more Christian way is to send your dogs to North Korea where dog meat serves as substantial protein for a hungary country.