All Wistful Creatures

I want to ask anyone reading this to pray for a bull.

The bull belongs to a farmer who owns the land adjacent to mine. This man does not display kindness nor warmth, especially towards his animals. He once let a cow suffer for days, sprawled in a mud hole in icy rain rather than put her out of her misery. I once rescued a calf belonging to his son, and when I called across the fields to the young man to get his attention, he snapped at me in the rudest way possible, and did not even thank me for saving and returning the calf. Coarse behavior and misanthropic personalities have combined in these two men and produced something foul and alarming.  I avoid both the farmer and his son as much as possible, because given their abrasive personalities and my hot-headedness, there is the very real possibility of a Hatfields & McCoys-type situation developing here, and I do not want such a thing.

I noticed the bull yesterday at eventide. He staggered down a slope near my fence line, and stood for a long time with his head down, saliva dripping from his mouth. His eyes were blank and unseeing, even when I called to him and tried to soothe him with my voice. His gait is awkward and shambling, and he seems unable to stand with his head up. He looks absolutely miserable. I have no idea what could be wrong with him, but when  saw him tonight, unchanged twenty-four hours after I first noticed his problem, I knew that he was suffering.

I’m asking anyone reading this blog to intercede for the bull, asking that our Father either heal him straightaway, or take the  bull’s life quickly so as to put an end to his suffering.

The following prayer is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi. It is a beautiful, practical intercession. May God Almighty help this poor, mute animal in his time of distress.

~ S.K. Orr

We pray, O God,
for our friends, the animals, especially for animals who are suffering:
for animals that are over-worked,
under-fed and cruelly treated;
for all wistful creatures in captivity
that beat their wings against bars;
for any that are hunted or lost or deserted
or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put to death.