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Rev. William Day

1897 | Rev. William Day, Birds' Nests: A Plea for Bird and Beast (Somerville, MA, 1897; Online Edition: Animal Rights History, 2003).

Rev. William Day acknowledges in his sermon Birds' Nest: Plea for Bird and Beast that "hardly a day passes that does not bring to light instances of cruelty practiced upon dumb brutes" and admonishes those cruelties as "a disgrace to the civilization of the century and a Christian land."

Arguing that "we have no warrant whatsoever to torture, abuse or cruelly treat a single one of God's creatures," Reverend William Day adds that "the animal world is suffering…not for its sin, but because of man's sin," suggesting that "in view of what has come upon the lower order of the creatures through the fall of Adam, mankind should seek to ameliorate that condition by showing kindness, and not cruelty, to such."

Rev. Day, "by no means unmindful of what has been done for dumb beasts by legislative acts, and the establishment of societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals" pleads that "there is so much more that can be done." He suggests that "men and women, and especially those who profess to follow the Saviour of the world and preach a gospel of humanity, love, kindness and gentleness, should begin to use their influence and the power of their example."

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