Part 3: Were the animals made for us?

“And rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the sky and over all the beasts.” Mankind’s ruling over the animals does not mean that we are allowed to inflict pain and suffering upon them or that they were made for us. We also rule over our children but this doesn’t mean that we can hurt them or that they were made for us.

Maimonides explains that the purpose of all creatures is for themselves and for the glory of God: “The Universe does not exist for man’s sake, but each being exists for its own sake, and not because of some other thing….and each of these beings is itself the purpose of its own existence” (הרמב”ם מורה נבוכים ג, יג).