Religion and Animals | 449 development of non-animal alternatives has been progressing more rapidly in recent years Practical advantages shown for many of these methods are that they are quicker, cheaper, and more reliable Adoption of these alternative methods is currently perhaps the most promising avenue by which rats and other animals will be replaced in laboratory research Further Reading Berdoy, M 2002 The laboratory rat: A natural history Film 27 minutes www.ratlife.org Hanson, A Rat behavior and biology Website http://www.ratbehavior.org/history.htm Walker, E P 1964 Mammals of the world, Vol II Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press Jonathan Balcombe RELIGION AND ANIMALS Religion influences our understanding of human and animal relations in three principal ways The first is the contribution that religion makes to our perception People sometimes refer to religious vision, and by that they mean that there are ways of seeing that are deeply rooted in religious traditions that can enrich our perspective The way we view the world is indebted to a range of influences, and religion is one of them well What are these religious perceptions? In terms of the animal-human bond, they are both negative and positive Negatively, some religions tend to exalt human power over animals and exclude animals from the bonds of friendship with humans Perhaps the most extreme version of this tendency can be found in the writings of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), who held that friendship with animals was impossible because they are not rational Since, according to St Thomas, friendship was only possible with rational creatures, animals were deemed incapable of “fellowship with man in the rational life” (Summa Theologica, Part 1, Question 65.3) This strong emphasis on rationality, which in Western religious traditions was denied to animals, has meant variously that they were largely perceived as being without a mind or an immortal soul, and incapable of having a relationship with God Although Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all recognize that animals are creatures of God, that their lives belong to God, even that God loves creatures, it remains true that all have given animals a low status in comparison with human beings There is little in their religious literature that specifically champions relations with animals Largely in hagiography, the biographies of saints, and early apocryphal Christian literature are relations with animals recognized and celebrated St Francis of Assisi is the obvious example, but there are countless other Christian saints of East and West, such as St David of Garesja, St Anthony of Padua, St Catherine of Siena, St Guthlac of Crowland, St Werburgh of Chester, and St Columba of Iona, who befriended animals and had friendly relations with them St Francis’s idea that animals are our brothers and sisters has had great symbolic power within the Christian tradition, though it appears to have influenced behavior very little Within Islam, animals and birds belong to communities (Qur’an 6.38) and give praise to God (Qu’ran 24.41), but animals clearly have an inferior status to that of human beings Animals may be eaten for food and used for clothing But the Prophet Muhammad required his followers to be merciful when killing “Kindness to any living creature will be rewarded,” the Prophet said