Why Evangelicals Should Care About Animals

When I mention that my firm, The Clapham Group, works on faith and animal welfare, I often get a quizzical look, followed by a line of questioning. Why does a conservative evangelical care about animals? Why should any of us worry about animals?

For starters, prominent evangelicals have long cared for animals. John Wesley, William Wilberforce, C. S. Lewis, Hannah More, and Billy Graham all thought animal welfare was worth worrying about. In fact, William Wilberforce, the great nineteenth-century British abolitionist, founded the first organized animal welfare movement in England in 1824, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The RSPCA still exists today and is the oldest and largest animal welfare organization in the world.