My family and I have had several pets. I enjoyed and have fond memories of most of them. Shortly after Sandy and I married, we got a mutt whom we names "Samson" because he was a hairy fellow. When the kids were small we acquired - Sandy would be happy to tell you how - a cat the children named "Popsickle," because we already had a Beagle named "Puddin'." Later we even had a cat the kids named Phydeaux (Cajun for Fido). Don't ask me why.

But MY pet, the one I really loved, was Dixie. She was a border collie we got when she was two years old. Dixie's purpose in life was to chase sticks, but she knew several tricks and was very entertaining. Also, she was a good guard dog with a ferocious, big dog bark.

It caused me no little anguish when she was old and in pain with arthritis to "put her down" (euphemism for "kill her"). You read that right - I killed her. I did it to spare her further suffering, nonetheless, I did kill Dixie. And furthermore, I feel no guilt whatsoever for having done so.

America has changed radically in my lifetime. People are living longer, and some are lonely in their older years. The unbelieving, secularized world has blurred the lines between animals and people (NO, pets are not people!). Americans have the money to have pet cemeteries and to pay for expensive surgery for sick pets.

Of all God's earthly creation, only humans were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). How? It's not our physical bodies, for God is a Spirit (Luke 4:24), and a spirit has no fleshly body (Luke 24:39) or visible form (Deuteronomy 4:15-18; Colossians 1:15). Rather as God is a Spirit, God is the Father of the spirit within each of us (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Hebrews 12:9). God is invisible (Colossians 1:15), immortal (undying, 1 Timothy 1:17), rational (1 Corinthians 2:11), and moral (capable of discerning between good and evil, Genesis 3:22). Our spirits are likewise invisible (John 3:8), immortal (Ecclesiastes 12:7), rational (1 Corinthians 2:11), and moral (Genesis 3:22).

Thus, when a human gets old and sick and is suffering, it is morally wrong to euthanize him. The taking of innocent human life is murder, "and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15).

Animals, on the other hand, lacking a spirit in the image of god, have no understanding (Psalm 32:9), that is, they are irrational and amoral (lack a sense of right and wrong). And when your dog or cat dies, it ceases to exist as a conscious being (Ecclesiastes 3:21).

Because humans have spirits in the image of God and animals do not, no number of animals, not even our dear pets, are equal in value to even one person (Luke 12:6-7, 24). Thus, God permits us to eat animal flesh as food (Genesis 9:3; 1 Timothy 4:1-5), and animal sacrifices cannot atone for our sins (Hebrews 10:4).

God has given human rule over the animal world (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 8:4-8). Thus, animals are subservient to the needs of people.

That doesn't mean we should be cruel to animals. The Lord taught Israel to be kind to their farm animals (Deuteronomy 25:4), but He did that to teach them kindness as a principle, so they would be kind to other people (1 Corinthians 9:9-10). That's the reason we should teach children to be kind to animals.

The Lord even taught Israel the principle of conservation of wild animals that are beneficial to people (Deuteronomy 22:6-7).

But human needs are more important than the needs of animals. The Lord promised to bless Israel for their obedience by ridding the land of "evil beasts" (Leviticus 26:6). It is wrong to protect wild, carnivorous beasts that kill people in and around their homes. This places the value of vicious animals over that of humans.

It is not wrong to love your pets (2 Samuel 12:1-6). But it is wrong to lavish money on them that could be used to spread the gospel (Philippians 4:15-17) or to feed hungry people, especially needy Christians (Galatians 6:10). The Lord will judge us on how we have used our money. I know of preachers in third world countries whose families are going without medical care. I know of godly women dying from diseases without access to doctors, medicine, or hospitals. If your dog or cat needs expensive surgery to stay alive, do what I did to Dixie, and spend the money on a person with a spirit in God's image.