Why can helping people spread goodwill further, and does that mean animals no longer need help?

Cats and dogs still need help. The point about helping people spread goodwill further is that someone who receives help may go on to help many others. It does not mean animals are unworthy of care.

Dao Sheng shared that when asking the Martial God of Wealth for financial help, he had said he wanted to help cats and dogs. According to his account, the deity did not say this was bad. Instead, the reminder was that helping people could allow one person to pass help to another and then to many more, making more things possible. This prompted Dao Sheng to consider whether he could broaden the range of those he wanted to help.

I added at the time that people can think, act, and use tools. A willing person who receives help has the ability to go on and accomplish more. This is the point behind saying people can achieve more. We cannot reduce it to a claim that people are more noble and therefore animals can be ignored.

From the perspective of spiritual practice, human life offers sweetness and bitterness, sorrow and joy, meetings and partings, through which we can gain many insights and experiences. In my religious experience, I have less often seen cats and dogs directly attain the state of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. It is more difficult, but I am not saying it is impossible. The remark at the time that helping one willing person might accomplish more than helping ten dogs was also based on a person’s ability to continue doing more.

So Dao Sheng was not told on that occasion to stop helping cats and dogs. He was reminded to notice human needs as well. If you can help animals, retain that care. When you are also able to help people, allow that goodwill to extend further.

When an animal has died, being willing to help provide a proper resting place also comes from kindness. YOYO shared how she helped move an injured cat found by the roadside and provided information about a veterinary clinic. She also described doing what she could while traveling for work to prevent a dead animal from being run over again. These were YOYO’s experiences. The point is a willingness to act when you see a need, rather than first calculating what you might receive in return.

The wish to care must also be considered alongside ability. We discussed someone who was willing to spend money and time caring for a sick bird and took its treatment seriously even though its sale price was low. That care is precious. However, if you lack the ability to care for a pet and insist on bringing it home, making life harder for both yourself and the animal, that is not a good approach. We need to learn both willingness to help and awareness of how much responsibility we can actually bear.