Animal Companions by Divine Design?

There is an odd old man who walks his little dog around the apartment complex, and he talks to it as if he is hearing it ask questions and reply to his own. But I do not think this widower of several years is crazy — that is just how the relationship plays out.

Evolutionists tell fanciful stories about the domestication of the cat as well as how we got our canine friends. Unfortunately, an Intelligent Design organization's writer linked below accepts this storytelling as well as deep time, but the rest of his article is interesting.

Women with dogs taking in the view, Pexels / Dmitriy Ganin

We have a special rapport with our animal friends, and they become family members. They are given a great deal of time and affection, and money is spent on food, upkeep, medical bills, and more. When they die, many of us grieve. We give, but they cannot give back in kind. Sure, some do work, but you can't exactly hitch up a team of bearded dragons to pull a plow. There are folks who have discovered that chickens can make good pets — never give something a name if you're going to eat it. You'll thank me later.

Pet often show intelligence that is surprising, but we surpass them in many ways. This is a simple way to show that we are not animals except for purposes of biological classification. For that matter, we are created in the image of God and have a built-in knowledge of him that animals seem to lack.

In other posts and articles I have confessed to the unscientific opinion that many things enriching our lives are gifts of our Creator. Study on it a spell. We have benefits from animals in our lives, whether drug-sniffing or cancer-sniffing dogs or the cats that act heroically — and many other ways in different critters. Or the simple benefits of affection and companionship.

Our experiences suggest strongly that many animals — mostly but not exclusively mammalian — possess an innate quality that enables them to relate to and connect with humans. Cats and dogs, our most common domesticated pets (estimated at 135 million in the U.S.). . . .

Considering the importance we place on our relationship with pets, what is our point of connection with them? A reasonable answer would be our shared qualities of mind, will, and emotions, or what could be termed “soulish” qualities.

You can read it all by jumping over to "Intelligent Design in Human-Animal Friendships."