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 Tza'ar Ba'alei Chaim/ |
 Judaism places great importance on the prevention of cruelty to animals, Tza'ar Baalei Chayim.. Unlike Western society, Judaism has always recognized the link between the way a person treats animals and the way a person treats fellow human beings. One application of this mitzvah requires that you feed your animals before feeding yourself, since fulfilling your own needs first may cause you to neglect or forget altogether about your animal's needs. Kosher dietary laws preclude hunting as a source of food while hunting for sport contravenes Jewish ethics and is forbidden.
 There are several sources for this mitzvah. The Talmud derives
the basic concept from Exodus 23:5, "If you see the donkey of someone you hate lying under its load, you might want to refrain from helping him, but you must make every effort to help him." The obligation is not just toward your fellow man, but also towards the animal itself.
 Our forefathers, Moses and King David were all considered worthy leaders of the Jewish people because of their compassionate shepherding of animals while Rebecca was praised for her kindness in watering Eliezer's camels. Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, the redactor of the Mishna, was divinely punished for speaking callously to a calf seeking refuge from him when being led to slaughter. Rabbi and philosopher, Samson Raphael Hirsch, summarizes the Jewish view on treatment of animals: "Here you are faced with God's teaching, which obliges you not only to refrain from inflicting unnecessary pain on any animal, but to help and lessen its pain when possible."
  Many mitzvos attest to the Torah's sensitivity to animals and how they affect our moral constitution. Examples include sending away a mother bird from her nest before collecting her eggs, the prohibition of slaughtering an animal and its young on the same day and the laws of kosher slaughter. So too, Jewish law prescribes that Shabbos also be a day of rest for one's animals.
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