Pastor’s Perspective: The astonishing affection given by dogs

The article in the Daily Pilot & Times OC titled “Facility dog Haines makes rounds at Rady Children’s Hospital at Mission” (Nov. 23, 2025) made my heart leap for joy. Haines is the hospital’s first dog to have joined the staff, and his job is to interact with young patients, and give them emotional support and comfort as they cope with the stress of being sick and the fear of being away from home. What a wonderful idea!

But given my own recent experience of living with a dog for the first time in my life, I am not surprised. I have become a different person, indeed a better and happier person, ever since we rescued Kato, a spunky little mini-pinscher from the animal shelter.

A few years ago I married an immigrant from Colombia who grew up on a farm with many animals, including many dogs. I, by contrast, grew up in a city and rarely had contact with animals. But now I live with a dog who is a member of our family, and I have come to cherish him.

Before getting to know Kato, I had never given much thought to animals. As a pastor, I have spent my life thinking about how to help other people. I have been deeply moved by human suffering. Now, however, I think just as much about animals, their suffering and how to alleviate it.

It didn’t take long for Kato to win my heart. The first night he was with us, he cuddled up to my side as we lay on our bed. He didn’t ask for permission to be so affectionate with me; he simply acted on impulse. I was astonished at the spontaneity of this simple gesture on his part. From that moment on I began to look upon Kato not as a mere pet, but — dare I say? — as a person. And all of my subsequent interaction with him has confirmed me in this impression.

While not a human being, he is nonetheless a person. He has feelings, thoughts, desires, fears, hopes and a heart of gold! Moreover, after reflecting on the differences between Kato and me, I realize that he is not capable of evil. Of course, a dog may bite or attack us, but this happens only when a dog feels threatened or has a disease such as rabies. We cannot impute evil intentions to dogs as we can in the case of human beings. Kato will never betray me or cheat me or lie to me, as people can do. To use religious language, animals cannot sin. While we humans pride ourselves on our superiority to animals, I have to ask: What’s so great about being able to commit acts of intentional evil? Kato’s purity of heart is far closer to God’s ideal for human life than most of us ever approximate.

Sadly, the veterinary profession has an alarmingly high rate of suicide. One reason for this is that veterinarians not only work hard to relieve helpless animals of their pain and suffering, but also witness how much of their pain and suffering is caused by human indifference and cruelty.

Kato’s vet told me there is a dire shortage of veterinarians. If I had to live my life over again, I’d devote myself to the care of animals and their well-being. A big frustration of being a pastor — or a teacher, or a psychotherapist, or a physician — is that sometimes the people one tries to help the most actually resist or refuse our help. But animals desperately need our help and gratefully welcome it.

Animals can also help people in unexpected ways. Dogs are now employed by prisons to assist in the rehabilitation of inmates. This does not surprise me. I have never known such loyalty and unconditional love as Kato gives me. He even accompanies me to church. We have four dogs in worship with us each Sunday. And why not? God loves them too.

I urge everyone to rescue a dog. I am so glad that we adopted Kato, and grateful that God has taught me these lessons through him.

Rev. Paul E. Capetz is the head pastor at Christ Church by the Sea in Newport Beach.