Burial of fighting dogs
In the fascinating article here about sting dogs, the commander says at minute 5:40 that if possible and if it doesn’t endanger fighters, they bring the dogs that died for burial in the unit cemetery. He says it’s “very valuable.”
I wanted to ask whether you think bringing a fighting dog to a dignified burial is a “moral act,” or whether it’s just sentimentality and has nothing to do with morality.
It is not moral in the sense of an obligation towards a dog (assuming that there are obligations towards a dead person). But there is a moral dimension in showing kindness to dogs, like showing kindness to inanimate objects (the illumination, the earth, and other examples from the Sages). This enhances the moral dimension of showing kindness even if it does not benefit anyone outside of oneself. In other words, it is not an obligation between a person and his friend or to others, but rather to improve one’s own qualities.
Perhaps there is also an action here for the benefit of the dog's owner, who identifies with his grief and participates in it. In the sense that there is between a person and a friend.
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