Prayers for Animals

Please go sign the Petition for Petaluma Feral Cats and Bees

Pray for the Homeless
A Prayer for Animals
By Albert Schweitzer
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The Hunter's Poem
By Lemuel T. Ward

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Pray for those in Pain
A Dog's Plea
Author Unknown
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Baggage
By Evelyn Colbath

From the Shelter Dog

Now that I'm home,
bathed, settled and fed,
All nicely tucked into warm new bed,
Lest I forget,
There is so much to carry -
So much to regret.

Hmm . . . Yes there it is,
Right on top -
Let's unpack Loneliness,
Heartache and Loss.
And there by my leash hides
Fear and Shame.

As I look on these things
I tried so hard to leave -
I still have to unpack my
baggage called Pain.

I loved them, the others,
the ones who left me.
But I was't good enough -
for they didn't want me.

Will you add to my baggage?
Will you help me unpack?
Or will you just look at my things
and take me right back?

Do you have the time
to help me unpack?
To put away my baggage
to never repack?

I pray that you do -
I'm tired you see.

But I do come with baggage -

Will you still want me?

Evelyn Colbath

The background music is "Quiet"

A Prayer for Animals
By Albert Schweitzer

Hear our humble prayer, O God,

for our friends the animals,
especially for animals who are suffering;
for any that are hunted or lost
or deserted or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put to sleep.
We entreat for them all
Thy mercy and pity,
and for those who deal with them
we ask a heart of compassion
and gentle hands and kindly words.
Make us be true friends to animals
and so to share
the blessings of the merciful.

A Dog' s Plea
Author Unknown

Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.
Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick your hand between blows, your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the thing you would have me learn.
Speak to me often, for your voice is the world's sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footstep falls upon my waiting ear. Please take me inside when it is cold and wet, for I am a domesticated animal, no longer accustomed to bitter elements. I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth. Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst.
Feed me clean food that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, to walk at your side, and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger.
And, my friend, when I am very old, and I no longer enjoy good health, hearing and sight, do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having any fun. Please see that my trusting life is taken gently. I shall leave this earth knowing with the last breath I draw that my fate was always safest in your hands.

The Hunter's Poem

By Lemuel T. Ward

A hunter shot at a flock of geese that flew within his reach.
Two were stopped in their rapid flight and fell on the sandy beach.

The male bird lay at the water's edge and just before he died,
He faintly called to his wounded mate and she dragged herself to his side.
She bent her head and crooned to him in a way distressed and wild,
Caressing her one and only mate as a mother would a child.
Then covering him with her broken wing and gasping with failing breath,
She laid her head against his breast, a feeble honk . . .
then death.

This story is true, though crudely told. I was the man in this case.
I stood knee-deep in snow and cold, and the hot tears burned my face.
I buried the birds in the sand where they lay, wrapped in my hunting coat.
And I threw my gun and belt in the bay, when I crossed in the open boat.
Hunters will call me a right poor sport and scoff at the thing I did,
But that day something broke in my heart, and shoot again?
God forbid.